Star Sword II: Return to the Stars
by Mataras
Summary: A long time ago, in galaxy far, far away, Yui Kirigaya and her parents helped bring the Force back into balance. But now the Dark Side has returned in a desolate place.. In this sequel to the original Star Sword, Yui must revive her Jedi training and return to the stars in order to aid the Skywalkers again, and this time without her family's aid... Disclaimers on SAO and Star Wars
1. An Unexpected Hope

**A/N: Okay, who's excited? If you're not, let me give you a few reasons to be!**

 **One, we are about to dive into the original trilogy that made Star Wars, yes that's right, Episodes IV-VI! If you read and loved the original Star Sword in which episodes II and III were covered, then I think this story will be doubly welcomed by your attention! It's an idea I've been concocting for some time, and I'm excited to finally have it under way!**

 **Two, we will see how Yui operates separate from her parents in this fanfiction- that's right, the Black Swordsman and the Lightning Flash wil not be joining us as Jedi Knights in this adventure. I'm sure that this will cause some mixed feelings, but I've wanted to do a story with a young adult Yui finding her own way for some time, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity.**

 **Three, we're about to see exactly how strong Yui really is. In the first Star Sword, we touched on that subject from time to time, but now she'll really get to strut her stuff.**

 **If you're not excited yet, then I dunno what will get you hyped! Maybe reading the story itself? Link, Start!**

 **P.S. Be sure to check out the video that I made for this story- you can find the link to it on my profile page.**

* * *

An Unexpected Hope

Luke Skywalker was in serious trouble. Without really knowing how, he had somehow greatly offended a criminal with a death warrant in a dozen systems, and said criminal now wanted to kill him. The man had thrown him into a table, where he lay now, stunned and winded. _Well, I guess this would be the right ending to the worst day of my life,_ he thought dully as he looked up at his attacker with bleary eyes.

His uncle and aunt had been murdered earlier that day by Imperial Stormtroopers, he had learned that his father was killed in the Galactic Wars in which the Jedi Knights had been wiped out- and all for two droids. It was annoying in a way, he thought, how everything seemed to have just ripped out from under him, and he had no say in the matter.

He saw Ben begin to move in between him and his attacker, but someone beat him to it. His vision cleared just in time to make him wonder if he hadn't hit his head so hard that he wasn't hallucinating. A beautiful young woman his own age was standing between him and his attacker, speaking to him in perfect Huttese. She was average in height, her body looked like it had been generated by a holo-program, with slender legs and shapely hips matched by womanly curves that would turn heads anywhere she went. Her hair was smooth and shiny, jet-black in color, and her pale skin was without blemish, but her eyes were hidden from him, as he back was to him.

Her clothing was a mix of black and white, a sleeveless garb that had a cape on it that hid most of her form. But her arms were covered by separate sleeves that went up almost to her shoulders. Her boots looked like soft leather of some kind, nothing like what Luke had ever seen before. To sum it up, she almost appeared to be a divine being- certainly not someone who'd grown up on Tatooine.

"This one isn't worth your trouble," she was saying. "But if you hurt him, I may prove more than you can handle."

The alien laughed at her thinly veiled threat, and pointed the blaster at her face from point-blank range. At that distance, there was no way he could miss.

But the girl showed no signs of fear as she stared what was almost certain death in the face and said, "I will not give you another chance to put that down and go get your drinks somewhere else."

The man immediately pulled the trigger, intending to kill her on the spot. Instead, the gun backfired and exploded in his hand, causing him to howl in agony as the burnt flesh was pierced by the sharp metal. "I warned you," the girl said in Basic, in that same soft, calm voice she had been using during the whole confrontation.

The alien's friend roared angrily and rushed at the girl, who weaved under the vicious punch he threw, almost like a dance movement. Not bothering to issue a warning this time, the girl reached for something at her belt, and her next movement was just a blur. The girl appeared to grasp some kind of metal object that looked vaguely familiar to Luke before there was a thrumming sound and a flash of purple that severed the hand that had tried to strike her.

The alien's shriek was now one of pain like his comrade's, and he fell to the floor, cradling the stump of a limb. Luke looked up at the girl to see that the purple light was gone, and that there was no sign of the object she had used.

He was immediately captivated by her gray eyes, which shone with concern and gentleness. Then he remembered how quickly she had moved, and he eyed her warily as she knelt beside him with a concerned expression. "Are you all right?" she asked softly.

"Yeah…" he grunted as he tried to get up. She grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet with surprising strength. "Thank you, uh…"

"My name is Yui," she said as Ben approached them with a frown on his face. "Yui Kirigaya. I'm here to help you and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Luke looked askance at her. According to Ben, he hadn't used that name since before he had been born, and this girl clearly couldn't be any older than him. How could she possibly know that name? "Uh…" he said uncertainly.

"It's alright, Luke," the old man said as he came up to them. "We can trust this girl, for the time being, at least."

"Master Kenobi?" the girl asked, her eyes wide as she looked the old man up and down.

"Keep your voice down, child," Ben said in a lowered tone. "There are too many unfriendly ears here. I have questions, and I can sense yours as well, but they must wait. Still, I will not ignore a Jedi seeking me out."

"A Je-" Luke started to ask before Ben put hand over his mouth.

"Patience, Luke," Ben said firmly. The boy nodded his understanding and Ben took his hand down.

"Luke Skywalker?" Yui asked quietly. "That's you, right?"

"Yeah, but… how do you know my name?" he asked.

"I'll explain later," Yui replied, still keeping her voice. Aware of the eyes on them, she said, "Right now, all you need to know about me as that I'm here to help. And this place isn't safe- we need to get out and find someone name Leia."

Ben looked sharply at the girl when she mentioned that name. His senses were still telling him that this girl had been trained in the ways of the Jedi, but how did she know about their mission? R2 would have never told anyone, even if he had to shut himself down permanently to avoid having the information extracted. Was she able to sense Luke's thoughts that clearly?

"Do you have something I can see that will validate your allegiance?" Ben asked cautiously. His instincts were telling him to trust this girl, but one could never be too careful.

Yui looked at him with her kind gray eyes and said, "Master, I know this is strange and confusing, but you must believe that I am a friend and I only want to help you. Do you have somewhere that we talk in private?"

"We were about to purchase passage for ourselves on a smuggler's ship," Ben answered, putting aside his doubt for now. He sensed no ill will from this Yui girl, so he would have to rely on that for now. "Come with us and remain silent if you want to learn more about our goals."

"Yes, Master," she said obediently as they headed over to a table in the back. But Ben sensed her eagerness almost as though it were surging from her, though he could not tell what could possibly cause her to be so excited… Excited and relieved?

They sat down at the table without a word, waiting for the man to make introductions. They didn't have to wait long. The handsome man in the black vest leaned forward slightly as he said, "I'm Captain Han Solo. Chewbacca says you're looking for a ship to get you out of here." He used a slight jerk of his head to indicate a massive wookiee sitting next to him.

Yui jerked with surprise, but said nothing, causing both Ben and Luke to wonder at her reaction. However, Ben knew that they had more important things to worry about right now. "We are," he nodded. "If it's a fast ship."

"A fast ship?" Han scoffed, almost sounding insulted. "You're telling me you've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?"

"Should I have?" Ben asked skeptically.

"It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs," Hand bragged with a broad grin. "She's a Corellian Freighter, low on luxury, high on evasion. She's outrun Imperials for breakfast and other bounty hunters for exercise."

"Sounds impressive," Ben said neutrally.

"So, what's the cargo?" Han asked leaning back, assured that he'd sold his merchandise.

"Passage for two droids, the boy and girl, myself…" Ben leaned in a little bit as he added in a lower tone, "And no questions asked."

Han grinned lazily as he said, "Well, that's the real catch, then, isn't it?" Luke had a sinking feeling in his gut as Han added, "And it's gonna cost you something extra." He paused and said flatly, "Ten thousand, all in advance."

Luke was scandalized. "Ten thousand?!" he sputtered. "We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

"Yeah, but who's gonna fly it kid?" Han said as he leaned forward to look Luke in the eye. "You?" His tone was challenging, and Luke hated it.

"You bet I could, I'm not such a bad pilot myself," he snapped. Turning to Ben, he said, "Why do have to sit here and listen to-"

Ben held up a hand for silence before turning back to Han and saying, "We can pay you two thousand now…" Han went to walk away, but Ben quickly added, "Plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan." Han stopped cold and looked at the old man with a curious eye.

"Seventeen, huh?" he said. Ben nodded once. Han returned the gesture slowly as he said, "All right, looks like you guys have got yourselves a ship. Meet me in docking bay ninety-four in half an hour. Chewie and I'll have the ship ready by then."

"Nintey-four," Ben nodded.

Han jerked his chin behind them and said, "Looks like you guys have been attracting some attention." The two men and girl looked back as unobtrusively as they could to see a few Stormtroopers questioning the bartender, who was pointing in their direction.

"Thank you," the girl said quietly as they made a stealthy exit.

By the time the troopers made it to Han and Chewbacca, they were nowhere to be found, nor would anyone say anything to the troopers present.

* * *

Luke quickly sold his speeder to fund their trip to Alderaan, and the group made their way to the docking bay that Han had told them about. As they walked, Yui said, "We're being followed."

"So you sense it as well?" Ben asked.

"Yes, Master," Yui nodded.

"You have an unusually strong connection to the Force for someone your age," Ben said thoughtfully. "And I know that you could not have possibly been present for traditional training. How did you come to know the Force?"

"I had a great teacher," Yui replied evenly. "Once we're on our way to Alderaan, I will explain my story in full detail, Master. I will tell you how I knew how to find you and about Anakin's son."

Ben looked over at her in surprise- she clearly knew more than he had originally thought, but there was no time to question her right now. He was committed, and he would just to trust in the Force that the gamble he was taking would be worth it.

"By the way," Luke said as they approached a non-descript home. "I never said thanks for saving me back at the bar… So thanks, Yui."

"It was my pleasure," she replied with a charming smile. "I'm glad to finally meet you, Luke."

"Finally?" he asked.

"Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself," she said ruefully. "I'll explain later."

"I hope so," he grumbled. "I've had enough mysteries today to last a lifetime."

Once they had collected the droids Ben had mentioned during the meeting with Han, whom Yui also seemed to recognize somehow, they made a beeline straight for the docking bay where the ship was supposed to be waiting. Yui kept throwing unobtrusive glances over her shoulder until Ben said, "If we look like we're afraid of being followed, we'll only attract more attention."

"True, but a lot of people in this spaceport are on the run from someone or other," Yui replied. "One more suspicious-looking person won't make that much of a difference."

"Still, I'd rather not take chances," Ben said. "Leave the enemy's detection to me."

"Yes, Master," Yui nodded.

* * *

Fortunately, they reached the Millennium Falcon without incident. Unfortunately, the sight of the freighter made Luke do a double-take. "What a piece of junk!" he couldn't help but cry out. The ship looked like a result of the trash compactors on Raxus Prime, clunky and rough. He looked at Ben, totally scandalized, to which he shrugged noncommittally.

"Hey, she may not look pretty, but she's got it where it counts, kid," Han said with a sharp gleam in his eye, despite his friendly grin. "Now if you don't mind, let's all get on board, I've got a ship to launch."

With Luke grumbling, Ben led the boy on board, but Yui stayed outside for just a moment longer. "You said this ship made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs?" she asked quietly.

"You doubt it?" Han smirked.

"No," Yui grinned back. "But if you rerouted the sublight engines' auxiliary power directly to the hyperdrive, you could have done it in ten, maybe nine parsecs."

"Hey, I think I know what I'm doing with my own ship," Han said, that same smile still stuck on his face.

"Okay," Yui shrugged as she moved to walk up the ramp to the ship's interior. "But make sure you know how to install the routers without a compressor, or else you'll blow up in the middle of hyperspace." Then she was gone inside.

Han scoffed at her, then turned to see Chewbacca approaching with the last of his tools, done with his repairs. In a low voice, he said, "Hey, Chewie? Make a note to pick up some new routers when we next go to Corellia."

The wookie let out a grunt of acknowledgement and moved inside the ship. Han reached up to finish attaching a part to the ship's exterior when Yui rushed outside, her cloak off and holding what looked like a long metal stick. Except that this stick in particular had many intricate patterns carved into it, and one hole on either end of it, almost like a large blaster barrel. Was it a weapon of some kind?

He got his answer when a squad of Stormtroopers dashed into the docking bay and opened fire almost immediately. Yui whirled her stick, and suddenly there were two glowing bars of purple light, one sprouting from each end of the stick.

To Han's amazement, she moved incredibly fast, intercepting the blasterfire that the soldiers sent her way with her staff, and sending the bolts back at the shooters, hitting them in their arms and legs, but not their vital areas. The whole fight lasted less than a minute, and Yui ended it in a strange manner.

Once all but two of the troopers were down, she deactivated her staff and outstretched her hands while closing her eyes. Suddenly, the two Stormtroopers stopped firing their blasters, and slammed into one another with shocking force, almost like two puppets when the master causes them to tangle in combat.

Yui opened her eyes and turned to Han as she said, "We need to get out of here. There are more on the way, and they're bringing heavier guns."

"How did you do that?!" he asked as he followed her up the ramp.

"I thought that part of the deal was no questions asked," Yui shot back as she headed towards the cockpit. "We need to be off of Tatooine, now."

* * *

"This better be worth it," Han muttered as he settled into the captain's seat.

"Seventeen thousand is worth quite a bit, even for a pirate," Luke said snidely. "Just do your job and get us out of here." He took a seat behind Chewbacca while Ben sat behind Han. Yui stood in the entrance to the cockpit, grasping the entrance tightly, as if afraid of something.

"Watch it boy, or I'm sending you out the airlock," Han snapped as they rose up out of the hangar and accelerated up out of the planet's atmosphere. They were safe from the ground troops now. Unfortunately, the way out of Tatooine's space was blocked by three Star Destroyers.

"That's a problem," Luke said, eyes wide.

"Not for me, I've got a few tricks that'll hold 'em off until we can make the jump to hyperspace," Han grinned. "This is where the fun begins."

"The main guns on the Star Destroyers that are just below the command deck," Yui said suddenly. "They have nothing behind them, because that's where the bomber ships take off, separate from strike fighters."

"So what?" Han growled.

"Blow up the guns, and we can fly right through them," Yui answered as the warships opened fire on the freighter.

"Are you crazy?!" Luke asked her.

"Kid's right, we'd never make that," Han shook his head. "Too many cannons pointed at us, we'd never make it. Not to mention, tractor beams."

"They won't fire on their own ships, so we'd actually have less laserfire to deal with," Yui countered. "They wouldn't risk a tractor beam, either. It runs the risk of scrambling their comrades' computers if they can't secure a lock on us. And if this ship is as good as you say it is, those turrets won't be accurate enough to hit us. I've flown up against these things before, so trust me- they're easy enough to circumnavigate."

Afeter a moment, Han grinned back at Yui and said, "I like this kid. Chewie, we're doing it. Go for the one on the left. Alderaan's hyperspace lane is right past it." When Chewbacca let out a series of growls that sounded like a challenge, Han shot back, "If you wanna try getting past them all at once by going up and over, get your own ship!" Chewbacca subsided, but he still growled out one last protest that Han ignored.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Luke said as he looked up at Yui.

"Don't worry, Luke," Ben said calmly. "The Force will guide us."

* * *

Everything went exactly as Yui planned it. Han aimed the Falcon straight at the leftmost Star Destroyer and shot at the largest of the turbolasers, rupturing their batteries and causing them to explode, crippling the weapons and opening a nice big hole for the little freighter to fly through. As soon as they got close to the warship, the other two Destroyers ceased firing out of fear of hitting their comrades, making it even easier for them to escape through the new opening.

As soon as they cleared through the smoke and flame, Han told everyone to buckle in and made the jump to hyperspace. The three passengers and droids did so by sitting in the back room, where there was some sparse decorations, but more secure seating than up front.

Once the acceleration had completed, Han said over the speaker system, "All right, we're in the clear, and we'll be at Alderaan in a few hours." Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, and unstrapped themselves from their chairs.

Luke turned to Yui with wide eyes and asked, "How did you know that was gonna work? I've never seen anything like it before!"

"I didn't actually pull it off," Yui shrugged. "Han did all the flying. I just went off of past experiences and knowledge of the ship's schematics."

"Speaking of past experiences…" Ben said as he looked Yui closely in the eye. "I think it's time you told us who you are and where you're from, Miss Kirigaya."

Yui looked at the kindly old man and nodded once. "I think now would be a good time, yes," she agreed. "I'll start at the beginning, then. Though I'll warn you in advance, some of what I say is going to sound crazy."

"After today, I'd believe just about anything," Luke said, eager to finally get some answers.

"Okay, would you believe me if I told you that Master Kenobi is the one that trained me in the ways of the Jedi, and that I was once close enough to your father to call him 'Uncle?" A long, profound silence greeted her declaration, and she sighed heavily. It was going to be a long flight, she sensed.

* * *

 **Kirito: Hey, wait a second!**

 **Mataras: What?**

 **Asuna: At the end of the final chapter of Star Sword, you showed Anakin half-dead in our virtual home! What happened to him and us? How did Yui get to Tatooine? And why is there an Empire at all?! We killed Palpatine!**

 **Mataras: Actually, Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan did that.**

 **Asuna: Mataras...**

 **Mataras: All right, all right! Take a chill pill, I have it in hand. Everyone just has to wait until next chapter for answers.**

 **Kirito: Cliffhangers already?!**

 **Mataras: Do you even have to ask?**

 **Asuna: Well, when's the next chapter?**

 **Mataras: Once I've finished the Slayer of Aincrad story.**

 **Kirito: Which will take how long...?**

 **Mataras: Three more chapters, or about a month in other words.**

 **Asuna/Kirito: A _month_?!**

 **Mataras: What?**

 **Asuna: Why would you start this story so far in advance?!**

 **Mataras: It's May the Fourth! How could I not?!**

 **Kirito: Anyone ever tell you that you might be a sadist for making your readers wait so long?**

 **Mataras: You wouldn't be the first.**


	2. Return of the Padawan

**A/N: Hey guys! I won't bother asking if you're excited about this- more than twenty reviews and nearly fifty followers with only one chapter out answers that question! I am so STOKED that you're all enjoying the return of my SAO x Star Wars fanfiction, and I look forward to continue hearing what you all have to say as we journey through the stars again! Let's go!**

 **P.S. There is a poll concerning whether or not Mataras (a.k.a. the Red Swordsman) should appear in my story Fire Sword. Head to my profile to cast your vote once you've read and reviewed this!**

* * *

Return of the Padawan

"Child, there is no possible way that I am the one that trained you in the ways of the Force," Ben said after a moment of silence. "I only ever had one Padawan learner, and that was… Darth Vader."

Yui frowned at the name, then a look of understanding crossed her expression. She looked at Luke for just a second, and she already understood why Ben was using the name he was. "Master…" she said hesitantly. "May we speak in private?"

"I think that would be wise, yes," Ben nodded. Turning to Luke, he said, "Off with you. Go on, then."

"But I wanna know what's going on!" he complained.

"I will tell you what you need to know, when you need to know it," Ben replied patiently. "Go on, then." Luke grumbled to himself, but complied, moving to make himself busy with the game table where 3PO was seated.

Once he was out of earshot and engaged in conversation with the golden droid, Ben turned back to Yui and asked. "Let's begin with what I more can easily comprehend, child. How much do you know about Luke and his family?"

"Everything," she answered honestly. "I know that his father was Anakin Skywalker, and his mother was Senator Padme Amidala. I know that only one of them is alive now, and he's not the Jedi we both knew. I also know that Leia Organa is not who she thinks she is, nor who Luke thinks her to be."

Ben regarded her warily for a moment before he replied, "You know of Darth Vader's origins, then?"

"I do." Yui's normally charming expression was now harder than iron.

"Then you can understand why I have not made Luke aware of his origins yet," Ben said.

"Yes," she nodded. "But what did you tell him instead of the truth?"

"I told him the truth, just from a different perspective," Ben answered. "I told him that Darth Vader was my pupil before the Jedi fell, and that he was the one that betrayed and murdered Anakin Skywalker."

"I suppose you could look at it like that," Yui frowned. "But if Luke ever finds out the truth, I doubt that he'll see it that way."

"What makes you so certain?" Ben asked, though he didn't disagree with her.

"He has a lot of Anakin in him," Yui said quietly. "Which means he also has the potential to become another Darth Vader, if his emotions aren't handled correctly. The less he's deceived, the better."

"He can only handle so much," Ben said. "Let me do the talking to Luke about the past for now, child."

"All right," Yui agreed reluctantly. "Just be careful with him."

"I shall," Ben promised. "Now, onto another matter. How do you know all of this? You said some things earlier that confused me."

"Well, it all started a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," Yui began. She went on to describe her parent's experiences in Aincrad and beyond, and the lengths that they went through to bring her into their world. She then went on to explain her adventures in the dimension which they all found themselves in when Kazuto tried to pull her out of the game world, where she met Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan at the beginning of the Clone Wars. Ben remained silent as she narrated adventures that he was well familiar with, though they varied somewhat because of her parents and her involvement. When she concluded by telling that they had successfully stopped Darth Sidious and Vader, and then gone home, Ben frowned heavily.

"But none of that ever happened," he said. "None of it. Emperor Palpatine defeated Master Yoda, and I failed to destroy Vader. They've ruled the galaxy ever since."

"There's one more piece to this story," Yui said. "Please bear with me a little longer, Master." Ben shifted on his seat to make himself more comfortable before gesturing for her to continue. Yui cleared her throat and began to speak again. "Earlier today, we were in my mother and father's apartment in the virtual world…"

* * *

Anakin was weak, covered in wounds as he lay on the couch of Asuna and Kirito's virtual home. Yui was doing everything she could to heal him with her Force healing techniques, but with limited success. "Uncle, what did this to you?" she pressed him. "You said something about someplace needing a Jedi?"

"Yui," he grunted as he clutched at her arm. "Yeah… You ever heard of multiverse theory?"

"Well, seeing as you and come from different dimensions, I don't find it that hard to believe," Yui said with a slight grin. "Why?"

"Like I said," he groaned. "There's another universe very similar to mine out there… I tried to go home, but I accidentally wound up there instead. The Force… It was so twisted and polluted by the Dark Side, hardly any light is left at all. It needs to come back into balance…"

"How is that possible?" she asked with a slight frown. "What happened that was so bad?"

"In that universe, your family wasn't there to stop the Emperor or… Vader." He grimaced at the memory of the raw, unrelenting rage he had felt from that entity. "I saw what I would have become without you, and your family… And I can't let that continue. They need help, but… I can't help the people of that galaxy… Not like this."

"So what now?" Asuna asked as she and Kirito walked into the room.

"Is Vaxra okay?" Yui asked.

"Yeah, Sugu's taking care of him," Kirito said as he looked at Anakin with a frown. "I'm with Asuna, man. What do we do now?"

"I came to find help…" Anakin grunted as he rose from his couch with discernible effort. "In that place, my son and daughter are separated, never having known each other. Padme is dead, and the Jedi are reduced to two old mentors. No one can fight the Emperor with the way things are. I know I can't ask any more of you… But as a friend… Please, help me."

"We'll help any way we can," Kirito promised. "What do you need us to do?"

"That's part of why I'm so reluctant to ask for your help," Anakin said hesitantly. "I was so weakened by the trips… It is possible for me to send someone into that place… But one, and one only." The full implications of what he said took a moment to sink in.

When it had, Kirito said, "I'll go."

"Like hell you will!" Asuna protested. "Not without me there!"

"You heard him, he can only send one of us," Kirito shot back. "Besides, what about Vaxra? Are we just gonna leave him all alone with Sugu? I don't think so!"

"So what, were you just gonna leave us both behind?!" Asuna said as she put her face right up in front of his. "Not happening!"

"Well you sure aren't going without me there to protect you!" Kirito replied hotly.

"Exactly my point!" she thundered. Whirling on Anakin, she asked, "Are you sure there's no way to send us both there?"

"No," he shook his head. "And even then, it'll be a close thing."

"Why don't I go?" Yui suggested. Her question was greeted with a long silence and incredulous looks from her parents. "What?" she asked.

"No way!" Kirito shook his head. "There's no way that you're going on your own."

"We'd never forgive ourselves if you got hurt!" Asuna exclaimed.

Yui's slender eyebrows met in a dark 'V' above her gray eyes. "I'm not a child anymore," she said stiffly. "I don't need you to protect me. I think it's more than time I can make my own decisions about things like this."

"But you're still our daughter," Kirito replied quickly. "And we don't want to see you get hurt, or worse. Please, Yui, let us try to figure something else out."

"There's no time," Yui shook her head firmly. "Uncle needs help, and he needs it now. Taking out time and thinking isn't a luxury we have anymore. Besides, I'm a full Jedi too, remember? I can handle myself now."

"You were recognized by the council-" Asuna tried to say, but Yui wouldn't have it.

"I'm just as skilled a swordsman as Dad, and you all know it!" she said angrily. "Other than the fact that you'd be worried, why shouldn't I be the one to go? I always had the easiest time accessing the Force in Uncle's dimension, I'm fluent in the most languages, and I don't have a son waiting for me to take of him!" Her face was flushed, but she held her ground, staring at of both her parents in the eyes with steely determination.

Kirito and Asuna shared a look before the Black Swordsman asked, "What happened to our obedient little daughter?"

"What happened to the Daddy that said he'd be proud to see his daughter become a fine swordswoman?" she shot back, though her voice calmed down.

Kirito grinned sheepishly as he recalled his words in the dungeon beneath the Town of Beginnings. "I guess we both changed a lot, huh?" he asked with a shrug.

"Yeah," she nodded with a slight smile of her own.

Kirito looked at his daughter for a long moment before he opened up his arms, and she embraced him tightly. "I'll miss you," he said softly.

"I'll miss you too," she sniffed. "Tell Vaxra I love him, okay?"

"Wait, just like that?!" Asuna cried. "You're letting her go?"

"There's really not a good reason for her not to go," he sighed. "She's right- she's the best choice for this. And we should be proud of her for being so brave."

"Thanks Dad," Yui said as she bowed to them both respectfully. "I love you both." Asuna pulled her out of the bow and hugged her, hard, bringing a smile to the raven-haired girl's face.

"We love you, too," Asuna cried. "We'll be waiting for you to come home, no matter how long it takes."

"I know," Yui said. Turning to her uncle, she stepped back and said, "I'm ready."

"A couple more things before you go," he said cautiously. "One, once you go there, I won't be able to help you at all- I won't even be able to talk to you. I think that should go away once balance is restored to the Force, but I can't promise you. Which means…"

"I might not be able to come back," Yui said with a slight frown.

Anakin regarded her for a moment before he asked, "Are you sure you still want to go?"

"Your family needs me," she said quickly. "There's no choice to be made."

"That's my girl," Kirito said quietly while Asuna cried into his shoulder.

"All right, then secondly," Anakin said. "Once I take you there, you'll be equipped with whatever you're wearing in this game now- namely your clothes and saberstaff. I don't know what will happen to your physical body, since we're in a virtual world, but it's very likely that it will disappear once I take you out of this dimension."

"I don't care about the risks," Yui said sincerely. "Let's get going before Mom figures out a way to keep me here." She smiled at her father, who smile back, despite the liquid drops forming at the corners of his own eyes.

"Then may the Force be us," Anakin said he began to glow brightly...

* * *

"And as I was on my way here, somehow Uncle gave me some of his memories, which included what he was able to find out about you, Luke, and Leia," Yui concluded. "I ended up in Mos Eisely a few hours ago, and I used the Force to sense your and Luke's presence. And the next thing I know, I'm saving Luke from getting turned into bantha fodder."

Ben leaned back in chair, deep in thought. Yui said nothing, waiting for him to make his final decision, knowing that that she had said everything she could to convince him that she was genuinely there to help them. After a moment, he asked her, "What is the Jedi Code that I taught you in this… other world?"

Yui was quick to answer. "There is no emotion, there is peace," she said quietly. "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force."

"You learned well," Ben said with a slight smile. "But tell me, for I am curious- what code did your parents follow? According to what you told me, they were responsible for teaching the group of younglings that survived in the other timeline."

"It was similar, but not quite the same," Yui answered, slightly hesitant. This Obi-Wan was a Jedi through and through, so what she said might alarm him in regard to using the Force. Still, she complied and recited, "There is emotion, but there is peace. There is ignorance, but knowledge opens our eyes. In the midst of chaos, we find harmony with one another. Despite death, we are one in the Force."

"Hmm…" Ben mused again for a moment, stroking his snow-white beard. "It seems as though they taught their students that although there is so much to tear them down, they could take solace in the Force itself, no matter how terrible the circumstance."

"That's part of it," Yui nodded. "They also trained their students to not only isolate themselves in the Force if they were on their own, but to commune with each other in harmony if they were together. This allowed us to survive Order Sixty-Six. Well, most of us…" She looked downcast, and she shut her eyes as if to ward off painful memories.

Ben decided it wouldn't be best if she dwelt on it, so he said, "As odd as it all seems, the Force does not lie. And it tells me to trust you, Miss Kirigaya. Though if you would…" He held up a hand to forestall her as he added, "I think it would be best to leave Luke's instruction in the ways of the Force to me. For the time being, at least."

"I can do that, Master," Yui said with a slight bow from her chair. "I know he's in the hands of a good teacher."

"Thanks you, Miss Kirigaya," Ben said with a slight smile, the first one he had given her since they joined up.

"Please, call me Yui," she said with a charming smile of her own.

* * *

Later, Ben and Yui were watching Luke intensely as he swung his father's lightsaber clumsily in an attempt to block the stinger bursts from a training droid that Yui recognized from her days in the Temple. At first she had almost laughed, because the droid in particular was supposed to be used on younglings, not young men, but she stifled her laughs for Luke's sake. It was clear that he was frustrated with the exercise, as he had been stung more than once already.

Chewbacca was engaged in the holographic table game that Yui had noticed earlier. His opponent was R2, with C-3PO acting as a translator/spectator. Han was still up front, apparently fiddling with some of the engine controls while they sped through hyperspace towards Alderaan.

Suddenly, Chewbacca howled angrily as one of R2's pieces claimed what appeared to be a vital player on the wookiee's team. "He made a fair move," the golden droid said, confused as to why the large pirate was so angry. "Screaming about it won't help."

"I wouldn't do that, 3PO," Yui said as Chewbacca glared at the mechanoid. "Only a fool upsets a wookiee."

"But Miss, nobody worries about upsetting a droid," he protested.

"That's because droids _aren't_ known for tearing people's arms out of their sockets when they lose," Yui said warningly as she jerked her head at Chewbacca, who was flexing his powerful muscles. "Unlike wookiees."

"Ah," C-3PO said. If he'd had guts, he would have felt them sink rapidly at that moment. Instead, all he did was turn to his friend and say, "R2, from now on, I suggest a new strategy- let the wookiee win." The blue-and-white droid bleeped in protest, bringing a grin to Yui's face.

* * *

Just as Luke felt that he was getting his hang of the exercise, Ben suddenly sagged, as if greatly weakened. Yui seemed to be similarly affected, if not more so than the old man, for she sank to the ground, hand up to her mouth, tears falling from her gray eyes. Luke deactivated his lightsaber and knelt beside Yui while placing a hand on her back as he asked, "Yui? What's wrong?"

"I…" she gasped. She looked over at Ben, who actually looked as though he were physically drained from the experience. "You… You felt that, too?"

"I did," he said heavily.

"What's wrong, guys?" Luke asked, his clear blue eyes clearly worried.

"There was a great disturbance in the Force," Ben answered.

"Billions of voices…" Yui said softly. "They all screamed in terror…"

"But they were all silenced," Ben said as he sat down wearily. "I fear something terrible has happened."

"The Force can tell you things like that?" Luke asked.

"Sometimes," Yui sniffed as she wiped her eyes. "But… Right now, you should focus on what you can control, okay? There'll be time for the more obscure mysteries of the Force later on, okay?"

"Okay…" the blond young man said hesitantly.

"Yui is right," Ben nodded. He made a waving motion at the now-motionless droid, which was programmed only to move when the presence of an activated lightsaber. "You'd better get on with your lessons."

Luke hesitated one last time, then he came to a decision. He helped Yui to her feet and moved back to face the droid. He activated the blue blade, and kept his eye on the circular droid as it began to hover erratically around him again. It was then that Han came into the back room, a smug grin on his face.

"Well, it took some doing, but I told you we'd outrun 'em," he said as he sat down in a chair with one leg up on the console. Everyone ignored him for various reasons. The droids and Chewbacca were engrossed in the game, Yui and Ben were still reeling from the surge in the Dark Side, and Luke was trying not to get shot. Han snorted in disappointment as he muttered, "Don't everyone thank me all at once." He seemed to want to add more, but then he found himself entertained by the sight of Luke trying to block the laser bursts with his sword.

After another moment of prolonged silence, Ben said, "Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force _flowing_ through him."

"You mean it controls your actions?" Luke asked quickly as he kept a tense eye on the training droid.

"Partially," Ben nodded. "But it also obeys your commands."

The young Skywalker swung left, but the droid zipped around and stung him on his right leg. He barely refrained from cursing as Han began to laugh. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster, kid," he chuckled as he patted his trusty pistol.

"Really?" Yui said, despite her still-present headache. "Tell that to the Stormtroopers I disabled back in Mos Eisley."

"Look sweetheart, that was a neat trick and all, but I notice that none of those wounds they got were exactly fatal," he smirked confidently.

"They weren't fatal because I didn't want them to be," Yui said seriously, her gray eyes deadly serious. "I wanted them crippled, not dead. Those blaster bolts went right where I wanted them to go."

"I doubt that," Han scoffed. "Nobody's that good."

"Really?" Yui said as she stroked her saberstaff gently, yet still ominously. "Well, if I'm so terrible at redirecting blaster bolts, maybe you'd care to try your luck?"

Han gave her a death glare in response. First she was telling him how to modify his ship, now this? "You know, I thought I was starting to like you, but now I'm having second thoughts," he scowled. "And you're tempting me to take you up on that challenge- but if I slipped, I might end up putting a hole in the Falcon, and I just don't have it in me to do that."

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" Luke interrupted as he shut off his saber.

Han rolled his eyes and said, "Kid, I've flown from one end of this galaxy to the other, seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen _anything_ that convinces me that there's some mystical Force controlling everything. No mystical energy field controls my destiny, I'll tell you that. It's all a bunch of simple tricks and nonsense."

"I suggest you try it again, Luke," Ben said as he picked up a helmet near to where was setting. He carried it over to Luke as he added, "This time, let go your conscious self…" Yui's eyes snapped over to the old man, those same words echoing in her head from countless times of hearing it. "And act on instinct," she finished with the old man, even as he set the helmet on Luke's head, the blast shield covering his face entirely.

Ben looked over at her with surprise at first, then a nod of approval was sent to her. Luke, on the other hand, was not so approving. "Hey, with the blast shield down, I can't even see," he protested. "How am I supposed to fight?"

Ben raised an eyebrow at Yui, who took the cue and said, "Your eyes can deceive you, so don't trust them." Luke shook his head, unable to make sense of the words, but he obeyed his teacher and activated his lightsaber again. Almost immediately, the droid swing around to shoot at his arm, stinging him again.

The boy threw up a hand in frustration, but Ben calmed him and said, "Stretch out with your feelings." Again, Luke hesitated, but complied. He firmed his jaw, and re-gripped the lightsaber.

This time when he began to move, Yui not only saw the purpose he moved with, but she felt the Force flowing through him, guiding his actions as he swung his blade, once, twice, three times, all to successfully intercept the sting bursts. Ben nodded his approval and shut off the droid as he said, "You see? You can do it."

"I call it luck," Han said in a bored tone.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," Ben shot back.

"Look, good against remotes is one thing," Han with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Good against the living? That's something else." He gave Luke a condescending smile, which he chose to ignore as he removed the helmet. An alert flashed to life on the monitor in front of Han, and he stood up as he said, "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan. Get ready to drop out of hyperspace." With that, he headed off to the cockpit, followed closely by Chewbacca.

"You know, it was almost like I could see the remote," Luke said as he put the white helmet aside. "I _did_ feel something then."

"That's good," Ben said approvingly as he patted his student on the shoulder. "You've taken your first step into a larger world."

* * *

 **Kirito: Really?! Multiverse theory?!**

 **Mataras: Why not? That's basically how this story got around to existing in the first place.**

 **Asuna: Hacks! I call hacks!**

 **Mataras: And I call jealousy.**

 **Kirito: We're not jealou- okay, maybe we are a little jealous.**

 **Mataras: Just a little?**

 **Kirito: Shove it.**

 **Mataras: I'll take it.**


	3. Into Death's Grip

**A/N: Heyo! Sorry it's been so long! Not my fault this time, though, I promise. FF has been giving me some technical difficulties that I had to circumvent to get this going. But now that it's here, I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Into Death's Grip**

As soon as everyone was gathered in the front, Han dropped the Falcon out of light speed. Yui looked on eagerly, remembering Alderaan as a fertile world that surpassed even Naboo in terms of its natural beauty. The various Houses would have their ladies dressed up in a combination of traditional garb and the latest fashion while the men would calmly debate over both domestic and intergalactic matters in the cool mountain drop out of light speed immediately caused the ship to shake with some kind of turbulence and the space before them was riddled with pieces of rock, some the size of a potato, others the size of a ship. Han quickly engaged in evasive maneuvers while he said, "Looks like we came out into a meteor shower of some kind."

"But where's Alderaan?" Luke asked with a frown.

"That's the thing," Han frowned as well. "We came out of hyperspace in the right area, only… No Alderaan."

"What?" Luke asked. "What do you mean? It can't have just disappeared!"

"That's what I'm tellin' you kid, it's not there anymore," Han shook his head.

"It's been destroyed," Ben said somberly. "By the Empire."

"That's impossible," Han tossed over his shoulder. "Not even the entire Imperial Fleet could destroy a planet."

"You never read up on your history much, do you?" Yui asked mildly.

"You got something to say, get it out, sweetheart," Han snapped, not in the mood.

"During the second war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire, the Sith Lord known as Darth Angral constructed a world-killer weapon called the Desolator. This is nothing new for the Dark Side."

"It blew up an entire planet?" Han asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly," Yui shrugged. "It killed the planet by essentially setting its atmosphere on fire. But it's been a thousand years since that occurrence- no doubt the Empire has improved upon its design."

"Or the facts got blown out of proportion," Han snorted.

"Don't be so quick to dismiss her insight," Ben said calmly. "It might save your life someday, Captain Solo." His eyes were faraway and distant, causing Yui to look at him with concern.

"Master?" she asked. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, Yui," he nodded as his eyes returned to normal. "I simply feel the Force drawing us somewhere close…" He looked like he was going to say more, but then a TIE fighter swooped in above them, stopping the conversation in its tracks.

"Chewie, jam their transmitters!" Han ordered as he engaged the Falcon to pursue the enemy craft. It didn't matter that the craft hadn't tried to attack them- he had been hired to hide his clients from the Empire, so that's what he was going to do.

"Wait, how'd he get all the way out here in deep space?" Yui asked. "That's not possible- those fighters don't have light speed engines, so he couldn't have followed us."

"Maybe he was part of a convoy that got lost or something?" Luke suggested.

"Doesn't matter, he won't be around long enough to tell anybody about us," Han said as they began to close the distance across space between him and his quarry.

"Look at that, he's headed for that small moon," Luke pointed at a white spot outside the glass. At first, it seemed that he was right, but then Ben paled significantly.

"That's no moon," he said as they drew closer to white-silver mass. "It's a space station." Yui immediately reached out with the Force to sense if what he was saying was true, her eyes widening as she felt the massive amount of both life and death intertwined into the moon-like structure.

"It's too big to be a space station," Han argued, but as they drew closer, they could all hear the doubt in his voice. It soon became apparent that Ben was right- the massive structure could certainly pass for a moon at a distance due to its sheer size and coloring. But when one got a closer look, they would see the blinking lights, turbo lasers, shuttle bays, and strangest of all, a massive indentation in the shape of a disk on its upper hemisphere.

"Turn the ship around," Ben said quickly.

"Yeah," Han nodded. For once, there was no argument in his voice. "Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power." The wookiee grunted and hit some controls, but all that happened was that the Falcon began to shake while still moving toward the station. "Chewie, lock it in!" Han snapped, to which the wookiee snarled loudly- and angrily.

"Why are we still moving towards it?!" Luke asked, frightened.

"They caught us up in a tractor beam, and we're being pulled in," Han seethed. He seemed angry at himself more than anything, Yui thought. "I'm shutting down the power, we'll damage the engines at this rate."

"But- there's gotta be something you can do!" Luke protested.

"There's nothing I can do, kid," Han said grimly. "They might take me, but I'll make 'em pay for it." Yui and Luke stared at him as if he'd lost his mind as they realized he intended to go out with guns blazing.

"You can't win," Ben said firmly to try and calm the hot-headed captain. "But there _are_ other options."

Han glared at oncoming station, then back at Ben before he came to a decision. "All right, old man," he growled. "What'd you have in mind?"

* * *

"I got three of these, so it'll be a tight fit," Han muttered as he reached down and lifted the grate on a hidden compartment. "Old man, you're in with the two droids. Chewie and me will take the one closest to the door. Kids, don't too comfortable in that last one." He shot Luke and Yui a warning glance as he pointed at the last compartment.

The young man reddened and sputtered furiously while Yui just rolled her eyes as she reached down and pried open the grate. "C'mon," she said as she jerked her head at the small area. Luke glared at Han for a second, who returned the look with a snarky grin, before clambering down in the hold. Yui was quick to follow, letting the grate shut over her head and plunging the small space into darkness, with just bits of light leaking through the grate.

She and Luke had to rearrange themselves so that they were not on top of each other, but even so, they were somewhat squashed next to each other. "How long until they send someone to search the ship?" Luke whispered after a tense moment.

"I don't know," Yui shrugged, though the movement was restricted in the confines of the smuggler's storage space. "If they scan for signs of life on the ship, they'll find us for sure. But if they don't, and just send a search party on board, which will probably be about fifteen minutes after they finish landing us, we might have a shot."

"Oh," Luke's voice was rather tight, Yui noticed, and she could practically feel his fear emanating from him through the Force. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of ways to try and calm him down.

"Hey, Luke?" she asked him as calmly as she could. "What do you remember of your mother and father?"

"Huh?" he asked. "I… Uh… Nothing, really. I mean, I think I was just a newborn when I was brought to my Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen… So nothing, really."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Yui said solemnly.

"But you said you knew him?" Luke asked her hopefully. She could sense that he wanted to know more about his father, and that hope was something better than the crushing fear that he been eating away at him a moment ago.

"Well…" she whispered. "He was strong, brave, loyal… He always made me laugh with how reckless he could be… He also made me feel better when I was sad and missed my parents. I don't think I ever saw your father without smiling.

"And he loved kids, though he'd never admit it," she grinned. "He used to spend his spare days teaching younglings how to fence, and he had his own little nicknames for each of them. He was regarded as a hero by almost everyone he ever came across."

"My father… he was a hero?" Luke whispered.

"And a great friend," Yui nodded, unknowingly repeating the same words Ben had used to describe Anakin earlier that day.

For a while, Luke was quiet. Then: "I hope I can be like him someday."

Yui smiled and put her hand on Luke's. "From what I can see, Luke, you've already got his spirit and curiosity," she said. "And you have his eyes."

"His eyes?" the boy repeated.

"Yeah," she nodded. "He had the bluest eyes- just like yours." Luke reached up to touch his face out of instinct. His entire life, he'd never had a picture of his father or mother, but now, at long last, he felt like he was beginning to see his face.

"Thank you," he said, a small smile touching his own face. "I'm glad you knew my father, Yui."

"Me too," she sighed. "Me too…" Before either of them could say anything else, they heard the sound of the Millennium Falcon's door opening, and they both fell silent. For several minutes, they heard Storm Troopers and Imperial Officers inspect the ship before they all eventually left.

* * *

The group all popped up out of their hiding places, stretching their cramped muscles. "That was just a preliminary search," Yui said as she stood up. "They'll be back soon with equipment that will tell them that we're here."

"So what do we do then?" Luke asked and he cricked his neck.

"We spring our own little trap," Ben said.

"I still think that this is a fool's idea," Han complained under his breath.

Ben looked over at him with a raised eyebrow and the words, "Who's more the fool? The fool, or the fool that follows him?"

"Why did I know you were gonna say that?" Han grumbled as Chewbacca let out a soft whine as he rose from his cramped hiding place. Since he was the largest of the group, it had been the hardest for him to fit in the smuggler's hold.

"Master?" Yui asked. "Can you feel the Dark Side presence nearby?" Her question came off as random, but Ben immediately knew what she meant.

"Yes," he nodded. "He's here."

"But it's not just him," Yui frowned as she reached out with the Force, trying to pierce the seemingly impenetrable fog of the Dark Side of the Force. Although she was somewhat familiar with how to use it, the blackness surrounding them was almost suffocating. "There's… I think that there's another person nearby trained in the ways of the Dark Side."

"It's not the Emperor," Ben frowned as he too, tried to concentrate on the source of the dark Force energy. "But they are undoubtedly strong."

* * *

Darth Vader strode out of the meeting chamber, his decision to hunt for Obi-Wan made expressly clear to the Moffs, and immediately headed for a private room that no one but himself and one other were allowed to access. Once he was inside, he spoke into the dark room, saying, "It is time you reveal yourself."

In the darkness, two blazing red eyes snapped open. "I sensed the arrival of a Jedi," a vibrant, slightly deep voice said. "Is that the reason I am summoned?"

"No," Vader said immediately. "The Jedi is mine. I want you to track down another target- one stronger in the Force than I have felt in years. Bring them to me, alive. Failure will not be tolerated."

The red eyes blinked, and Vader knew that their owner was smiling. "Have I failed you before, Master?"

"Do not overestimate your abilities," Vader warned. "This presence is familiar with the both the Dark Side and the Light. They are not to be trifled with."

"Yes, Master," the other person replied as they stood. "By your leave, then." The red eyes walked past Vader and exited the room. If Vader remembered how to smile, he would have done so then. His assassin was well-trained in the arts of the Sith, and although he was undoubtedly arrogant, that arrogance was only matched by his success rate. Whoever had been captured aboard the Corellian ship would not escape his grasp.

* * *

All in all, things could have gone worse, Yui thought as Luke shut the door to the control room they had seized. The second search party had been easy to overpower, and with Han and Luke posing as Storm Troopers using the uniforms they had taken, getting out of the hangar had been a breeze. The only problem was that Han and Chewbacca had made a racket out of taking the control room.

"You know with all your shooting and his howling, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here," Luke snapped at Han.

"Bring 'em on, I'd prefer a straight fight to all of this sneaking around," Han retorted. Luke ignored the sally, instead moving to where R2 and 3PO were examining the schematics of the space station.

"Now what do we do?" Luke asked.

"The tractor beam needs to be taken out," Yui answered as she sat down at a console and began to punch in commands to the computer. "I might be able to shut them down from here, but the problem with that is that their technicians would likely notice that someone was tampering with it remotely from here."

"So what's out other option?" Luke asked.

"Sir, if I may," 3PO said to get his master's attention. "R2 has found the source of the tractor beam's power supply. If we shut it down manually from there, it would likely take the Imperials longer to notice that it has been tampered with, in addition to them needing to fix it manually instead of via a computer terminal."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Yui said as she stood up to go. "That'll give us more time to get away."

"No, Yui," Ben said as he motioned for her to stay put. "I shall go, alone."

"But wait, I wanna come with you," Luke protested.

"You should at least have some back-up," Yui added.

"Your destinies lie along a different path," Ben replied as he shook his head. Seeing the disappointment on the youngsters' faces, he put a hand on Luke's shoulder and smiled at them. "Remember- the Force shall be with you, always." Then he walked out of the control room, putting his hood up as he went.

Yui and Luke watched him go for a moment before the boy shut the door. Chewbacca let out a series of growls to which Han nodded at. "You said it, Chewie," he said as he looked at the two of them and added, "Where did you two dig up that old fossil?"

"Ben is a great man," Luke replied dully.

"Yeah, great at getting us into trouble," Han snorted.

"He's also the best at getting his comrades out of trouble," Yui retorted. Any further conversation was cut off as R2 began to whistle and bleep rapidly.

"What's going on?" Luke asked his golden droid for an explanation.

"I'm not quite sure, sir," 3PO answered. "He keeps on saying he's found her and repeating 'she's here'."

"Who is?" Luke asked.

"Princess Leia," Yui and 3PO said simultaneously.

* * *

 **Kirito: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Timeout!**

 **Mataras: Eh?**

 **Kirito: Who was that guy with the red eyes? He definitely wasn't in the prequels!**

 **Mataras: Neither was Yui.**

 **Asuna: Your point?**

 **Mataras: Let's just say that I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that no one knows about.**

 **Kirito: that's not an answer!**

 **Mataras: Yes it is, just not the one you wanted. Next time: Duel of the Fates.**

 **Asuna: Hey isn't that-**


	4. A Daring Encounter

**A/N: Hello everyone! Happy 240th birthday to the United States of America! In honor of this event, I am releasing not one, but two chapters today! Sorry, not both of them are for this story- the other one is for my Inheiritance Cycle x Fairy Tail crossover, Inheiritance of a Dragon Slayer. I know, that's a completely different category to this one, but hey, I have a broad taste in shows, books and movies! So if you too like those stories, please be sure to check it out if you have not already done so!**

 **Now, let's get on with the adventures in the Death Star!**

* * *

A Daring Encounter

"The princess?!" Luke exclaimed as he moved to stand beside Yui and the droids. "She's here?!"

"Where?" Yui demanded as she looked up at the monitor R2 was hacking into. "Where is Leia being held?" Her fingers flew across the keys that were related to the blinking monitors. R2 beeped a few times, and Yui entered commands into the computer correspondingly. "Cell block A-A 23? Got it… Cell number 2-1-8-7… Oh no."

"What is it?" Luke asked, noticing Yui's wide eyes and slightly open mouth, both sure signs of worry. "What's wrong?"

"She's scheduled to be terminated, Luke," Yui turned to him while lowering her arms. "She has three hours."

"Oh no!" he exclaimed, eyes going wide. "Well, we gotta do something!"

"What are you talking about?" Han demanded. "What princess, what's going on?!"

"She's part of my mission here," Yui answered cryptically. "I have to get her out of that cell before she's killed."

"I'm coming with you," Luke said as he grabbed his Stormtrooper helmet.

"No way," Yui shook her head. "Master told you to stay here, to stay safe."

"He didn't know she was here!" he protested, refusing to give ground. "Look, if we all go together we've got a better shot at-"

"Who said we were going?" Han snorted as he kicked his legs up and leaned back in his chair.

"What're you talkin' about?" Luke asked as he looked at Han incredulously. "a few minutes ago you were just sayin' how you wanted to fight, now all you wanna do is stay here?"

"Marching into a detention center is _not_ what I had in mind," Han retorted.

"But they're gonna kill her!" Luke protested.

"Better her than me," Han snapped as he swiveled the chair to look away from Luke.

The boy looked over to Yui for support, who shook her head without a word. He threw his hands up in disgust and made to walk out the door before he stopped in his tracks, a thoughtful look on his face. He walked back over to Han with a new look of determination in his eyes that caught Yui's interest.

Leaning over Han's shoulder, he said quietly, "She's rich." Yui's right eyebrow shot up as she recognized the angle Luke was now working. Although she wouldn't admit it then, she definitely thought it unexpected from the farm boy- and incredibly effective.

Han took the bait. "Rich?" he asked as he turned to look over his shoulder.

"Rich, powerful," Luke nodded. "If were to rescue her the reward would be…" He faltered, and Han squinted at him suspiciously.

"The reward would be…?" he demanded.

"Well more than you could imagine!" Luke said hurriedly.

Han looked at him dubiously for a second before he said, "I dunno, I can imagine quite a bit."

"You'll get your money," Yui said with a sly grin.

Han glared up at her and pointed a stiff finger as he said in a short tone, "I'd better."

"You will!" Luke assured him. Han looked between the two of them a few times before he finally nodded in agreement and stood up.

"All right, I'm in," he said. "What's your plan for getting us there?"

"You know, I still haven't even said you could come, Luke," Yui said as she stood by the door controls. "Why should I let you out of this room?"

"Because if we split up any more, our chances at getting caught and separated go way up," Luke said shortly. "Come on, Yui. My dad was a Jedi, and I followed Ben because I wanted to be like him. Now, I dunno if this is the Force telling me or maybe just a dumb hope, but… I feel like this is what my father would have done.

"You knew him, right?" Luke almost pleaded. "Wouldn't he try to save her?"

Yui regarded him for a very long moment before she nodded gravely. "Yeah, Luke," she said. "He would have." She moved away from the door and gestured at the boy as she asked, "So what _is_ your plan to rescue the princess?"

"Well…" he said as he grabbed a pair of electro-cuffs from his belt and moved towards Chewbacca. "Here. I'm gonna put these on you." Yui winced as Chewbacca objected with a roar that made Luke retreat rapidly and hand the cuffs over to Han. "Okay, Han, you- you put those on."

The pirate chuckled as he grabbed the cuffs and moved closer to his first mate and grabbed one of his arms a little less forcefully than Luke had done. "Don't worry, Chewie, I think I know what he's got in mind."

Since Luke had handed his off to Han, he grabbed his comrade's pair from his belt and moved to stand in front of Yui. "Uh…" he grinned awkwardly as he held open the cuffs. "What I have in mind will work better if we have two prisoners."

Yui raised her eyebrow again and held out her hands, wrists facing upward. "What exactly am I under arrest for?" she asked.

"You're the pilot and co-pilot of the captures ship," Luke grinned. When Han looked over at him in surprise, Luke shrugged and said, "I thought it would make it more convincing if we said they had been captured from the ship everyone will know about."

To their surprise, Han grinned at them and nodded approvingly at the boy. "Nice thinking, kid," he said. Then he jerked his head at the droids and asked, "What about them?"

"I think it's better if R2 and 3PO stay here and keep an eye on the ship," Yui said as Luke snapped the cuffs on her wrists. Looking over at the droids, she added, "Stay in touch over the com, okay you two? R2, keep 3PO out of trouble."

"Pardon me, miss," the golden droid said. "But I believe you have our roles reversed. It is I who usually-"

"No it's not," Yui grinned as she was led away by Luke, who had donned his helmet again. R2 bleeped and whistled a few notes while Han did the same with Chewbacca and opened the door to the room.

"How rude!" C-3PO said as they left, clearly affronted.

* * *

Yui guided the two 'troopers' to the detention center through the massive space station. Not a word was spoken by any of them as they walked, their expressions hard like flint. They all knew that if they were caught, it could mean instant death for them, and that weighed heavily on all of them. Not to mention that if they didn't make it back to the Falcon in time, they would be stranded in a space station with Darth Vader himself looking for them.

They found a lift that would take them to the right area within twenty minutes. The group tensed up a bit when the troopers guarding the lift eyed them cautiously, but seeing that Yui and Chewbacca were disarmed- Luke and Han were carrying their weapons on their utility belts- they let them pass with a few passing words. Once they were in the lift, Yui used the Force to unlock her cuffs, but not take them off in preparation for the fight that they knew would be coming.

"Luke, there's one thing you need to know about the princess before we rescue her," Yui said as the lift continued to rise.

"What's that?" Luke asked, his voice slightly riddled with static from his helmet's speaker.

"She's your sister," Yui said without looking back. Through the Force, she sensed Luke's shock at her frank words.

"She's my-!"

"Quiet kid," Han snapped as the lift slowed, indicating that it was about to open up. "Save it for later."

"But-!" He shut up when Yui kicked him in the shin. The impact did nothing, but the implications behind the action were clear. If he couldn't hold it together now, they would all be done for. Still, it didn't stop his head from spinning, and he stumbled a little bit stepping off of the lift into the prison center control room, jostling Yui a bit as they all came under the watch of a full squad of troopers and officers.

"Soldier, what's wrong with you?" the commanding officer demanded sharply.

"Sir, my partner took a hit from this thing when we tried to get them off of the ship," Han lied as he prodded Chewbacca with his blaster. "He's still not quite steady, but we were ordered to bring them up here immediately."

"Why weren't they stunned if they were supposed to be brought in?" the C.O. asked suspiciously.

"Vader wanted them awake for questioning," Han replied evenly. "That meant no stun shots."

"Strange that I wasn't notified," the man frowned as he reached for a communication module. "I'll have to clear it." Two other troopers moved to take Yui and Chewbacca off their hands at his signal.

Yui moved first, flinging her arms out and exerting her will over the Force to cause every single camera in the room to explode at once, startling the enemy soldiers badly.

"Look out, they're loose!" Han shouted even as Chewbacca broke the restraints with a roar. He threw his partner his crossbow and shot at the closest trooper, striking him in the chest and killing him before he could even scream.

Yui whirled, grabbed her staff from Luke, ignited one of the blades, and reflected a blaster shot from the standing officer into a nearby panel, destroying it. With a wave of her hand, she sent him flying against the wall, knocking him out. Luke, Han, and Chewbacca all proceeded to gun down any and all troopers that came against them while Yui used her powers to destroy their weapons before they could be fired.

When the room was clear of all troopers, she sheathed her weapon and headed right for the hallway that held multiple prisoners. "Han, get on the com channel and buy us some time," she said. "See if you can get them to keep out of here altogether."

"Already on it, sweetheart!" Han called sarcastically as he moved to where the officer had been standing.

She ignored all of the doors on either side of her until she paused at the one marked '2187'. Looking back at the room at Luke, she jerked her head in a gesture for him to follow her.

He came up, jogging quickly enough before he asked, "What did you mean back on the lift about her being my sister, Yui?" He sounded shaky, she thought.

"Exactly what I said," she told him firmly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but since you were going to meet her a lot sooner than I had originally thought, I needed to tell you. The lift was the only time I had the whole way here."

"But how…?" he wondered aloud. He felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. First his father was a Jedi Knight, and now… he had a sister?! "Yui, what is going on?!"

"I promise I'll explain everything about your sister that I can once we get away," she said as she placed a hand on the door controls. "Right now I just needed you to know exactly who this girl is and why it should be important to you to rescue her." She paused and turned to look at the young man with her serious gray eyes. "She's your family, Luke. So protect her." And she hit the control to open the door and reveal the princess.

She was sleeping on a solid metal slab, her form rising and falling slightly as she breathed shallow breaths. She had brown hair that was kept neatly in two buns, one above each ear, and her face was very pretty, with bright red lips and slender eyebrows.

Luke couldn't believe it. " _She's_ my sister?" he asked as she began to stir. "We don't look anything alike!" He turned to Yui to ask her something, but he was stopped by the sight of the girl with tears running down her face. "Whoa, are you all right?"

"She looks…" Yui said hoarsely. "She's… She looks like your mother." Luke's gaze snapped back over to Leia, who eyed them both groggily and imperiously at the same time.

"Isn't he a little short for a storm trooper?" she asked. "And aren't you a little too weepy to be an imperial torture agent?" It took them a second to realize that she meant Yui.

"Sorry," Yui sniffed as she wiped her eyes. "Princess Leia, we need you to come with us, please. We need to get you out of here."

Leia's brown eyes opened up a bit more as she asked, "Who are you people?"

"I'm Luke Skywalker, and we're here to rescue you," Luke said hurriedly as he removed his helmet to reveal his face.

"You're who?" she asked, still apparently out of it from the imperial's torture methods.

"I'm Yui Kirigaya, apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi," Yui said quickly as she reached out her hand for Leia to take. "We came here with your R2 unit, and we've got a ship we need to get back to."

"Kenobi?" Leia's eyes shot all the way open as she stood up swiftly. "Ben Kenobi? Where is he?!"

"Come on, we'll explain on the way!" Luke said as he dashed up the stairs, his head still spinning. He was wondering if Leia didn't know that he was her brother when he slammed into Han. "Han, what're you doing? Exit's that way." He pointed with his blaster at the way they had come from.

"Not anymore it's not!" he said as Chewbacca came up behind him.

"Why not?" Yui demanded, back to her usual, confident self.

"Because _that_ ," Han said he directed their gazes to see a dark red energy blade cutting through the lift door. "Chewie killed the lifts, but somehow, someone still got up here."

"Some rescue," Leia commented.

Han glanced a question at Luke who said, "This is Leia. We need to get her out of here."

"Well, if you have a back-up plan, let's hear it," Han growled just before the door was blasted over, and Yui gasped from the surge in the Dark Side of the Force. The others looked to her as smoke filled the room before them and the glow vanished.

"Stay back," she ordered as she strode forward and unclipped one half of her staff from her belt, turning her double-bladed weapon into a dual set. There was only one person that she could think of who would carry a red blade that would be on this station. "I'll handle Vader."

"Vader?" a young, mocking, and somehow familiar voice echoed from the smoke. "Sorry, but Lord Vader's otherwise occupied. I'm your challenger." And the smoke was whiffed away by another surge in the Force to reveal a face that Yui never thought that she would see again. A face that made her own go white with shock, and a strange, garbled sound come out of her throat as she nearly dropped her lightsaber in shock.

Short brown hair. Light skin tone. Thin muscle frame. Serious eyebrows that bent down towards his eyes. A firm jaw. A small nose. The only thing that had changed was his eyes. The ones that Yui remembered were serious yet kind, and a dark brown color. These orbs were blazing red, full of anger and resentment. Yet she knew whom it was that stood before her, holding a longer lightsaber hilt, black in color with a golden plate decorating the emitter. His clothing was mostly a dark red, and some parts were black, but again, there was a golden plate with a draconic design on the equipment, this time in the center of his chest.

"V-Vaxra?" she squeaked out, her voice cracking.

The youth frowned as he ignited his lightsaber, a dark red blade with a black core instead of a white one at its center. "Who the hell is Vaxra?" he asked. "My name is Agent Varicious, servant in the shadows to Darth Vader."

Yui gasped once and shut her eyes against the horrible sight before her. The young man facing her cocked his head for a second, confused. Then he shrugged off his confusion and moved forward, lightsaber coming up for a killing blow.

Motion.

Yui flung out her hand, and the air shuddered with raw power as Varicious was flung back the way he had come, the hallway destroyed in the wake of his flight. He crashed into a console and immediately struggled to get up, his vision blurry for a moment from the impact. When his vision had cleared and he was on his feet, he was facing Yui, who stood in the remains of the destroyed cell hall with eyes that blazed with lightning as she ignited her purple blade.

Behind her, Han was shouting that this was their chance to get away, while Luke argued that they should try to help her, but the inquisitor paid them no heed for now. At that moment, he felt a surge in the Force such as he had never felt before. Both the light and the dark seemed to whirl around and through this girl, empowering her in a way he had never imagined.

"I don't know…" the girl could be heard saying as the room began to shake. "…what kind of universe would spare your life like this, Vaxra. Being made into Vader's slave…" Another tear rolled from her eye. "But I won't let it continue any more. I'm going to make you remember who you really are, even if it kills me."

"I think I can accept that," the young man sneered, her words meaning nothing to him. "But you'll have to die first." With that, he leaped forward, the thrill of combat already fueling his connection to the Dark Side.

Yui's blade met his and stopped his momentum completely with a single motion. Grabbing his fist as he tried to slug her with an iron wrist, she whispered, "I won't leave you… Not this time."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he grunted as he leaped back. "But if you wanna stay here, you will die." Yui firmed her chin, then shot forward like a laser blast from a rifle.

Blood red met valiant purple, and the battle began.

* * *

 **Kirito/Asuna: WHAT WAS THAT?!**

 **Mataras: Oh boy.**

 **Asuna: _Vaxra!?_**

 **Mataras: Here we go.**

 **Kirito: _He survived?!_**

 **Mataras: Oei...**

 **Asuna: _And he's a Dark Side user?!_**

 **Mataras: This is a lot of yelling...**

 **Kirito: _W_ _hat?!_**

 **Asuna: _How?!_**

 **Kirito: _W_ _hy?!_**

 **Asuna/Kirito: _We have... so many questions!_**

 **Mataras: And with that, I take my cue to leave. Also, be sure to check out my friend Marcus' fanfiction The Arctic Swordsman: Watchman of the Stars!**

 **Asuna: _GET BACK HERE NOW!_**


	5. Fight and Flight

**A/N: Ah, it has been too long, my friends! In spirit of that, and the fact that I know you all are dying to find out what happened next, I'll be brief.**

 **Kick some butt, Yui!**

* * *

Fight and Flight

Yui's lightsaber whirled and blurred as she fended off Vaxra's attacks. His fencing skills had always been noteworthy, but under Vader's instruction, Agent Varicious' fencing talents had multiplied and grown exponentially. The girl was forced to use every combat trick she knew in order to avoid getting cut in half by the ruthless Sith Assassin that wore the face of one she had called friend.

"It seems your friends have abandoned you," he said as he shoved her back to give himself space. "Observe." And he pointed with his lightsaber to try and get her to look at the hallway, but she would not be tricked into lowering her guard.

"I know that they left already," she said as she took the moment to grab the other half of her weapon and ignite the purple blade. "And I'm glad that they did."

"Why, so they can be spared the sight of seeing me tear you to pieces?" Varicious smirked. "How sweet of you."

"I came here to help them however I could," she replied evenly as she settled into a slight crouch. "If that means remaining behind while they escape, so be it. Either way, I won't leave until you remember who you are, Vaxra."

"I told you, my name is Agent Varicious!" he snarled as his eyes blazed with hate. Something about that name was grating on his nerves, and he wanted her to stop using it. "Stop pretending that you know me!" He went back on the offensive, Yui's twin blades dancing in her hands to deflect his attacks.

"Use the Force to sense the truth, Vaxra," Yui replied as they came into a deadlock for a moment. "I am your friend, and I can't stand to see you suffer in the grip of the Dark Side."

"I do not suffer," Vaxra spat as he shoved her back. "I am in control of the Dark Side of the Force, not the other way around. Lord Vader has seen to it that I-"

"Sith lie," Yui interrupted him. "They always lie. Whatever Vader has taught you, you can bet that it's only to further himself."

Vaxra eyed her for a moment without a word or a motion before he said, "Do you seriously think that I'm that naïve? I know the Sith lie." He thrust out with his hand to throw Yui back with the Dark Side before he added, "But when you have the choice of dying by the hand of your master for defiance or plotting to one day surpass him, which do you think you would choose?"

Yui shot to her feet faster than the assassin expected and reactivated her lightsabers. "I would choose to go down with my swords in hand," she sniffed as a tear leaked from her eye. "Not sell my soul cheap so that I could live and become everything that I hated."

"You know what?" Varicious snorted. "I think you're fooling yourself. When the time comes, no one wants to die. And pretty soon, I'll prove that your self-preservation is just as strong as anyone else's."

"You're welcome to try," Yui replied. "But I aim to make you remember that there are some things worth dying for."

"A battle of convictions, then," Varicious nodded slowly. "You truly believe in what you are saying… People may lie, but the Force does not… Interesting. I accept. If you can survive this encounter of ours, I will meditate on what you have said here. If I win, well…" A wicked smile split his face. "I think that outcome is fairly self-explanatory."

Yui pondered his words for a moment, eyeing him carefully and using the Force to detect any signs of deceit. If he had used the Dark Side to try and muddle her senses, he would have failed on account of her ability to use both sides of the Force. However, she sensed no such attempt, nor the use of any kind of power from the young man calling himself Varicious.

"All right," she nodded as she settled into a crouch once more. "Let the Force determine the victor on this day." The words spilled out of her mouth, almost unconsciously. They were the words that her Uncle Anakin had always said to her before they dueled ever since he started training her.

Varicious frowned slightly at the words- he had heard Darth Vader use them many times before he would train him, but he never thought to hear them from another. Maybe it was some kind of Jedi philosophy? _No, that makes no sense,_ he thought as he grasped his weapon with both hands firmly. _Lord Vader is a Sith, not a Jedi… Does this girl know Sith philosophies as well? She_ can _use the Dark Side…_

"Before we begin, I would have you name," he declared. "You already know mine."

"I am Yui Kirigaya," the girl replied. "Daughter to the warriors of Aincrad, Kirito the Black Swordsman and Asuna the Lightning Flash."

"Quite a heritage to live up to," Varicious smiled with mock respect. "Let's see if you can keep up with such a grand-sounding legacy."

Both combatants shot forward like a laser blast from a rifle, the room groaning with the amount of power behind their Force-fueled blows. _If she survives this, I will have much to think about,_ Varicious thought even as his lips curled into a snarl while he allowed the Force to guide his sword. _Yui, huh…? Who are you?_

* * *

"I can't believe you got us to leave Yui up there with that guy!" Luke growled as he struggled to stand up straight, even as the garbage shifted under his weight yet again. "She came here to help us!" He, Han, Chewbacca, and Leia had taken a dive into a garbage chute that had gotten them away from the Sith Assassin while Yui had been busy fighting him. The place that they had landed in was decidedly an unpleasant one, dark and rank with odors of things that may or may not have been alive at some point.

"Sorry, but I didn't exactly see the point in fighting someone that reminds me of Lord Vader," Leia shot back. "We wouldn't have lasted a second against him, flyboy."

"I'd be more likely to agree with you if this place didn't have such a _wonderful_ smell," Han remarked as he recoiled from a part of the dank room that smelled particularly foul. "Let's get out of here." He aimed his blaster at the exit, squeezing the trigger before Luke and Leia could properly get any words out. Instead, they and Chewbacca dove for cover even as the blaster fired.

The laser shot ricocheted and bounced around the room several times before it hit a piece of rubble and stopped going, but by then the damage was done. "Are you crazy?!" Leia screamed at the recovering smuggler. "Put that thing away before you get us all killed!"

"I already tried mine, the door's magnetically sealed!" Luke added hotly.

When they stopped screaming, Han glared at the white-clad princess and said with a deceptively mild voice, "Absolutely, your worship." Then he scowled and shouted, "Look, we had everything under control before that freak showed up and then you led us down here!" He wasn't exactly wrong- it _had_ been Leia who had shot out the grate that taken them down to the garbage room.

When Luke said nothing in her defense, Leia muttered, "It could be worse." As if in response, a low, bestial rumble echoed through the chamber, and some instinct told every single one of them to freeze in place.

"It's worse," Han said flatly.

"There's something alive in here," Luke said, sounding shaken.

"I hope that's your imagination," Han shot back, not sounding too confident. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Luke recoiled rapidly as he pointed at the muck encasing their legs as he exclaimed, "Something moved past my leg!" Chewbacca moved to the door and started to pound on it, grunting with the effort of trying to get out in response to Luke's announcement. Luke managed to point out a massive, slimy, boil-ridden tentacle, just before it disappeared beneath the rank sludge. "See that?!" he insisted. "Look!" He and Han pointed their blasters at the sludge, trying to figure out where this _thing_ in the waters was. Leia moved out of their way, hoping that whatever was in the room with them would stay beneath the surface and leave them alone.

A roar that sounded something like a cross between a parrot screech and a nexu howl accompanied an even larger tentacle than the one that Luke had pointed out, and seized the blond youth before yanking him under the water.

"Luke!" Leia shrieked.

"Kid!" Han roared as he charged to where Luke had been just a second ago. It was only a couple of meters, but the garbage made it impossible to move quickly. "Kid, where are you?!" He slashed through the muck with his free hand, but he found nothing in the way of his companion. "Kid?!" he tried again.

With a groan and a rumble, Luke staggered up above the muck, a massive tentacle wrapped around his body, struggling violently to pull him back under. He managed to heave a massive lungful of air before he shouted, "Shoot it! Shoot the damn thing!"

"Where?!" Han asked, worried about hitting the boy.

"Anywhere!" Luke groaned as he tried to keep himself standing. Han shot the tentacle multiple times, but the creature's only reaction was to yank Luke back under the garbage. He went back down with another groan of pain before he vanished.

"Kid!" Han shouted, slashing through the water with his free hand. He tried to fire his blaster, but it had short-circuited when it came in contact with the dank waters. It would need repairs to work again, but that was far from Han's main concern right now. "Luke?!" he tried one more time, even as Leia looked down at the waters with a mixture of horror and sorrow.

Suddenly, something underneath the waters shone with a brilliant ice-blue color, and Han backed away from it instinctively. Suddenly, Luke shot up to the surface, gasping for air again. He was covered in trash, muck, and what Han thought smelled like blood, but he was alive. In his hand was his father's lightsaber, hissing as it shed the water that had been coating its blade.

"Luke!" Han cried out in relief. "What happened?!"

"I don't know!" Luke coughed as he spat out rancid sewer water. "I turned on my lightsaber to try and fight it off, but then it just let go and disappeared!" He coughed a couple more time as he deactivated his sword.

"Think the light from the blade sacred it off?" Leia asked. Before anyone could answer her, a loud, metallic groaning sound echoed around them.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Han muttered as he eyed the dimly lit room again. What could go wrong for them now?

With a shriek, the walls began to move in closer to one another, and Han knew what was happening. "This isn't a holding area, it's the compactor for the garbage!" he shouted to be heard above the noise. "We're gonna be crushed!"

"Leia!" Luke choked out, still trying to get his breath. He stumbled over to the woman and held out his hand, holding a communicator device. "Get… R2 and 3PO! Maybe they can shut this down!"

"If they don't, we're all gonna be a lot thinner!" Han grunted as he hefted a massive metal pipe to try and wedge it between the two walls, which were slowly but steadily crawling towards one another. Maybe if he managed to- "What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted as Luke knelt down in the muck with his head bowed. "Help me lift this thing!"

"I'm concentrating!" Luke shouted back as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I might be able to slow this thing down, but I need to concentrate!"

"How?!" Han growled. "You know what, forget it. Chewie, help me lift this thing!" The wookiee snarled a complaint but moved to help his fellow pirate heft the heavy piece into place. They managed to wedge it in between the walls just in time, but the machinery powering the walls was merciless. The brace groaned and bent from the pressure, its hardy material only slowing the compost process a fraction.

"So much for that," Han growled while Chewbacca moved to pit his might against one of the walls in a futile effort to stop its progress. Turning to see that Leia was still on the com trying to contact the droids with no success, he decided to leave her be. But when he saw that Luke was still down in the filth with his eyes closed, he gritted his teeth and drew in a breath to yell at the boy.

* * *

Yui's battle with Varicious had taken them both out of the detention level and into one of the hallways of the space station. Fortunately there were no Stormtroopers in sight, but Yui knew that the noise would attract the attention of somebody eventually, so she needed to try and finish the battle soon.

The Vaxra she had known was incredibly pragmatic, which often meant that he would not fight someone unless he was confident that he had a chance that he could win. Agent Varicious seemed to have retained that trait, she thought, which meant that he would fight until one of them was on the ground in defeat, not before.

 _I need something to unbalance him,_ she thought as she countered his stab with a parry and cut back at him with a backwards slash. Even as the thought crossed her mind, both of them felt a surge in the Light Side of the Force, though the word 'surge' did not quite do it justice.

A better term might have been a 'flash flood' of energy that made all those in the station that were sensitive to the Force take pause as the sensation washed over them. Varicious seemed especially unbalanced by it, for he widened his eyes and said, "What… What is that?" His gaze snapped up to meet Yui's, who was smiling softly for some reason. "Is this some kind of Jedi trick?" he demanded.

"It's no trick, Vaxra," Yui said as she felt the light wash through her, calming her nerves and soothing her aching muscles. "There has been an awakening in the Force."

* * *

 **Kirito: Oh boy, seems like Luke is about to pull something unexpected!**

 **Asuna: Maybe not unexpected, but I definitely didn't see him using the Force so soon in this story.**

 **Mataras: Hehe, but now the readers will be forced to wonder how much can he control it? And what is he going to do with so little training?**

 **Asuna: Well, that Rey girl from the new movie picked up a few tricks pretty fast, so maybe Luke will, too.**

 **Mataras: Perhaps, but you won't know until next chapter, titled Luke's Awakening.**

 **Kirito: Which will be released...?**

 **Mataras: I dunno. Life is crazy, I went on vacation for a while, and I'm getting back in the groove. In any case, I hope I didn't keep my fans waiting for too long, I'm sorry this wasn't out sooner. However, I hope to see you all again in a couple of weeks with this story again- until then, ciao!**


	6. Luke's Awakening

**A/N: Yay for having a day off! Managed to get this chapter finished (FINALLY) and now I look forward to hearing what you all think of the newest installment in Star Sword II!**

* * *

Luke's Awakening

"What do you mean, an awakening?" Varicious demanded as he swung his black-red blade in an overhanded arc that was aimed at Yui's shoulder.

She batted the sword to the side and pressed her own offense now, feeling the Light Side of the Force flowing through her, balancing her body and spirit in a harmony that could almost be described as poetic. "Let's just say that there's more to my comrades than meets the eye," she said as she jabbed at his abdomen, which he barely managed to deflect.

"Jedi?" he grunted as he counterattacked, though it was clear that he was having a harder time using the Force to fight her than a few moments ago.

"Not quite, but I aim to get him there eventually," Yui admitted.

"That's assuming you can get away," Varicious growled, his red eyes blazing. "You're nothing but a dead girl, Yui Kirigaya." Instead of replying, the girl focused on using her dual blades to defeat her opponent- there was nothing more to be said.

* * *

Han, Leia, and Chewbacca looked on with wide eyes as the air around seemed to shimmer ever so slightly, and vibrate as he knelt in the sewage of the space station. His brow was furrowed, and he seemed to be muttering something to himself as the walls drew closer together. His comrades couldn't hear him over the noise, but keener ears would have heard, "There is no emotion… there is peace." The energy gathering around him began to expand, and the others instinctively backed away from it.

Still, he continued, saying, "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no chaos, there is serenity." His blue eyes snapped open, and he spread his arms wide as he stood and said in a louder voice, "There is no death… There is the Force!" The semi-visible energy shot forth from his arms and slammed into the walls, halting them where they were. The metal groaned as the gears behind it tried to continue pushing it forward, but to no avail.

"How long have you been able to do that?!" Han shouted over the noise.

"Since… now," Luke grunted. "I don't know how long I can hold this, though. Leia… Get the droids on the com, now!" His arms wavered, and he redoubled his efforts to hold the compactor at bay. _The Force flows through me, guiding my actions…_ he thought as Leia finally managed to get ahold of C-3PO. _The Force empowers me, shelters me… But also obeys me._

With a final groan, the compactors finally gave up and stopped trying to move, and Luke collapsed in the muck. Han was quick to keep him from going under again, grabbing his right arm and hauling him to his feet. "You okay, kid?" he asked.

Luke grinned tiredly at his companion and said, "Still don't believe in the Force?"

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

* * *

Ben Kenobi had just finished disabling the tractor beams when he felt the surge in the Force. His first reaction was worry- he could feel that Luke was the one acting, and if he could pick up on that, it was possible that Vader would comprehend who the young Skywalker really was- it would be impossible for _not_ to notice such a reaction in the Force, light or dark.

 _Then I'll have to give him something else to ponder,_ the old man thought resignedly. He made his escape from the control room and grabbed his lightsaber from his belt. _Time to come full circle, Vader._

* * *

"Well, all things considered, that wasn't too bad, kid," Han grinned at the blond boy. "I think I can honestly say that this was the closest brush I've had with death- in a few years." The trio had managed to exit the room, thanks to R2 hacking into the system. They had found themselves in a corridor of the station that was thankfully devoid of any Imperial presence.

"Glad to know you enjoyed yourself," Luke replied as he rolled his eyes. He and Han had shed their Stormtrooper armor, though Luke had elected to keep the utility belt to hang his blaster and lightsaber.

Any further conversation was cut off as the monster in the compactor room let out another roar, frightening Chewbacca and causing him to retreat several yards from the door.

"Chewie, get back here," Han snapped, but the wookiee shook his head in protest. Han let out a grunt of disgust and shot into the room to scare off the monster, despite Leia's protests.

"They'll hear that!" she snapped at him.

"No more than they'll hear that thing," Han shot back as he holstered his gun.

"Okay, you know what?" Leia said in a quieter voice. "I don't know who you are, or where you come from. But from now on, you'll do as I tell you, okay?" And she walked off, not bothering to see if the others were following.

"Let's get one thing clear," Han said angrily as he walked up to walk next to the princess, Luke close behind him, and Chewbacca in the front of the group. "I take orders from one person: me!"

"It's a wonder you're still alive," Leia shot back. With a sound of disgust, she brushed past Chewbacca and muttered, "Someone get this walking carpet out of my way."

"No reward is worth this," Han said as he shot Luke a glare. The only thing he felt he could do was shrug his shoulders in response.

* * *

Yui blasted her opponent back and took off running down the hallway, shutting off her swords as she did. "Don't run from me!" she heard Varicious shout as she ducked into another hallway- right into a very surprised group of troopers and a gray-uniformed officer.

They were quick to get over their surprise, though. All of them aimed their blasters at the girl, who tried desperately to think of a way to get past them without tipping off Varicious that she was there.

However, the problem somewhat resolved itself when the boy with the dark sword charged around the corner, even as the troops opened fire. Yui sensed that this was her best opportunity, so she used the Force to greatly increase her speed so that she ran right at the troopers, up onto the wall, and right past the group. It all happened so fast that she was nothing but a blur to the men, and by the time they realized who they were shooting at, they were all dead.

* * *

Varicious sensed the oncoming danger before it happened, so he was able to reflect all of the shots back at the troopers, each one going right through the hearts of the individuals that had fired at him, even the officer. Looking down at the bodies in disgust, he walked past them as he muttered, "This is why I prefer droids- at least they shoot at the right target instead of panicking." Looking up, he saw that Yui was long gone, but he could still feel her presence not too far from him.

"She's headed for the ship," he said to himself.

* * *

Yui panted heavily as she skidded to a stop in a hallway that had a window overlooking the Millennium Falcon. Not too long after she had paused to catch her breath, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching, so she light up one of her blades, ready to fight at a moment's notice. Just as the people she had heard rounded the corner, she drew back her arm to strike at them, but she held her blow when she found herself reunited with Luke and the others.

"Watch where you point that thing," Han said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Yui panted. "He was more of a challenge than I thought he would be."

"The guy with the red lightsaber?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," she nodded as she wiped her brow. "We don't have long before he finds us, though. We need to get to the Falcon."

"Wait, is that your ship?" Leia asked incredulously. She turned back to the others and said, "You're braver than I thought."

As she was assessing the ship, Luke was busy talking to his droid. It was a brief conversation and he closed off with the words, "We're right above you. Stand by." He turned to the others and said, "The droids are ready, we just need to get there."

"What about Master?" Yui asked.

"He'll be there," Luke said.

"How do you know?" Han scoffed.

"Call it a gut feeling," Luke shrugged.

"I hope you're right, Luke," Yui frowned. "But I'm sensing a disturbance in the Force…" She shook her head and said, "Let's get going."

Blaster fire suddenly whizzed around them, and Yui blurred into action, leaping forward to reflect the lasers back at a group of troopers that had appeared around the corner. Han moved to the side and began firing back, taking three of them out in as many shots. "We can't get a break!" he growled.

"Uh, guys…?" Luke said, sounding nervous, I think we have a problem."

"Tell me something I don't know!" Han tossed over his shoulder as Chewbacca took up a position on the other side of Yui to fire at their enemies with his crossbow.

"No, I mean a bigger problem than the Stormtroopers!" Luke said as he backed up a few paces. "Red guy is back!" Yui spared a quick glance over her shoulder to see Varicious coming down the hallway, a dark smile on his lips.

"Can't you fight him?!" Han asked as more troopers came around the corner.

"Not a good idea," Yui said as she reflected one more laser. Stretching out her hand, she sent a wave of energy at the troopers, scattering them like bowling pins. "Han, Chewbacca, see if you can prevent them from getting reinforcements!"

"Already on it!" he shouted as he and the wookiee charged down the hallway.

Yui turned back to face her opponent, combining her lightsabers together to form her staff once again. "Leia, Luke, stay back from this," she ordered.

"You said yourself that this guy was hard to deal with," Luke said as he handed his blaster to Leia and grabbed his sword, igniting the pale blue blade. "Let me help you."

"No offense, Luke, but I need to do this myself," Yui said as Varicious came closer, his sword already coming up. "And it's one thing to fight a remote droid, another entirely to battle a Sith agent."

"I can't just keep letting you do everything for me!" Luke said hotly. "I have to do something!" And he charged at Varicious, despite Yui's cry for him to come back.

"Now this is precious," the other young man chuckled. Luke swung a clumsy blow at the Dark Agent, who blocked it with contemptuous ease. The boy stumbled backwards, off-balance from the recoil of his failed attack. Varicious stepped around the fallen young man and kicked him the stomach as the blue saber deactivated.

Then he felt a burning pain in his stomach, and he looked down in shock to see a purple blade emanating from his abdomen, right above his waist. "What…?" He looked behind him to see that Yui had shot forward to attack him the second his back was turned.

"That… was a coward's play," he grunted as the blade slid out, and he collapsed.

"Don't complain, you'll survive it," she said as she put her staff on her belt. "Which means you'll have plenty of time to think on what I've said."

"You… cheated," he mumbled.

"Are you surprised?" she said as she knelt next to him. "I have people to protect- which means I'll do whatever I have to do so I can protect them." Luke grunted as he stood and activated his sword. Yui looked up at him, concern in her eyes. "Luke, what are you doing?"

"I gotta end him," he said as he pointed his blade at the fallen fighter. "If I don't he'll come back and try to kill us again."

"Killing defenseless opponents is not the Jedi way," Yui said as she stood up from Varicious' now-unconscious form. "If you're going to be like your father, you need to bear that in mind."

"I'm with Luke," Leia said as she pointed her blaster at their enemy. There was a flash of purple and the blaster was nothing but a smoking ruin, much to the surprise of the two Skywalkers. "Uh…?"

Yui's dark eyes were set like steel as she said, "I made a deal with him. And I won't have either of you make me go back on my word. My parents taught me to keep my promises, so that's what I'm going to do."

"You're really gonna just let him go?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Yui nodded. "Believe me, he won't get off easy- Darth Vader is sure to punish him."

"All right, but let's get out of here before he decides to come and collect," Leia snapped. "Come on."

"Coming!" Luke said as the princess took off running.

Yui only hesitated a moment to look back at the unconscious Inquisitor. "I'll see my friend again," she whispered as she began to run. "I have to believe that…" A silver tear streaked her face, and she wiped it away.

* * *

Ben felt a chill run through his bones as he found himself face-to-face with Darth Vader. With all the experience and wisdom of a Jedi Master, he knew that he would not survive this encounter. Nonetheless, he would not go down without a fight.

His lightsaber hummed as it was ignited, and he began to walk forward, ready to face his fate.

* * *

 **Kirito: Haha, Anakin's kid got wrecked!**

 **Anakin: What'd you expect? He's not magic, you know.**

 **Asuna: Wait, you're in this segment now, too?**

 **Anakin: Yeah. Got kinda bored sitting on the side, so I asked Mataras if I could come on.**

 **Kirito: Cool! Wait, is this a one-time thing, or...?**

 **Anakin: Think of me as a recurring guest star from now on.**

 **Asuna: Seems legit.**

 **All: Next time- Legacy.**


	7. Legacy

**A/N: Okay, so I put this up a day late... sue me :P Life keeps me busy, you guys know the story these days. In any case, this will be a short chapter, but I think that it will be long enough to make at least one of you cry.**

 **That being said, go see how things take a slightly different turn once again!**

* * *

Legacy

"I think we made a wrong turn," Luke said as he looked down into the abyss that was one of the many shafts in the monstrous space station.

"You _think_?" Yui muttered as she also looked down beside him. "We should have asked R2 for directions."

"Yeah, well I don't think those Stormtroopers behind us are going to let us go around," Leia said dryly as she gestured at the door that Luke had just sealed. They had been chased by another group of troopers that had basically herded them to a sector where the bridge had been retracted. "Where are the controls that extend the bridge?" the princess asked as she looked around.

Yui looked over at the smoldering control panel that Luke had shot in order to lock down the door behind them and felt her gut sink. "I think that was it…"

"They're going to start coming through!" Leia reminded them.

"Shut up, I'm thinking," Yui snapped. She looked up to see a platform that led to an open hallway, but it was too far away for Luke or Leia to jump to. The same went for the door that was directly across the chasm, not to mention that it was shut tight. She could manage the leap with her Force abilities, but the fledgling apprentice and his sister were not ready to try something so advanced. She cast her eyes about, looking for something that she might be able to make a bridge out of, but then she felt a warning from the Force, and her eyes shot back to the platform she had noticed just in time to see four Stormtroopers arrive and take aim.

"Look out!" she shouted as she pulled the twins back into cover just in time to avoid becoming the latest target practice for the Imperial soldiers. As if that wasn't enough, the door behind them began to open slowly, and the armored feet of several troopers could be seen through the opening.

"Great, now what?!" Leia asked.

"Luke, discourage the ones behind us," Yui said as she grabbed Leia's blaster from her hands, much to their surprise. "I'll take care of the guys up above us." She stepped out of cover and squeezed off four quick shots, each one hitting the troopers' rifles and causing them to explode, knocking them all back and stunning them from the blast.

Luke could only look at her with his jaw dropped in amazement. _I didn't even know it was possible to make that kind of shot!_ He thought. Then the door behind him opened up a bit further, and he saw that some of the troopers were trying to wedge their guns underneath to shoot at their feet. In response, he whipped out his lightsaber and slashed through the weapons, destroying them, and causing several of the people on the other side to curse and retreat for a moment.

"Good work," Yui said to the young man as she handed Leia back her gun, who seemed just as shocked shocked as Luke at Yui's accuracy. However, she paid them no heed as she compressed the Force in as small of a space as she could before thrusting with her right hand to send a shockwave that shot across the room and blasted open the door that had been shut to them. She turned to look over her shoulder at Luke as she asked, "Do you have a grappling hook or something?"

"Huh?' he asked. "Oh, yeah." He reached for his utility belt and pulled out a cylindrical device with a sharp, pronged end. Then he frowned. "I don't think I can carry both of you across the gap," he said.

"Who said you needed to?" Yui grinned. "The Force both shelters and empowers us. With enough training, you'll be able to do things that you never thought were possible before." And with that, she leaped across the chasm to land on the other side, light as a falling leaf.

Leia's eyes widened even further as she said, "That's some girl you brought with you."

"Tell me about it," Luke agreed. Then a noise behind them reminded them that they needed to be moving, so Luke fired the grapple line and made sure it was secure before wrapping his arm around his sister. "Hold on tight," he grunted before making the jump.

They landed on the other side just in time for the Stormtroopers behind them to start firing again, but Yui's lightsaber sent them back with enough accuracy to discourage any more shooting.

"I think the ship should be a straight shot from here," Yui said as she shut off her staff. "Come on." And she took off running.

"She never stops, does she?" Leia asked as they began to follow.

"Not so far," Luke nodded.

* * *

Vader swung. Ben blocked.

Their lightsabers flashed and darted, faster than snakes, but Ben knew that Vader was just toying with him. This little sparring match was nothing compared to their last battle back on Mustafar. Both of them knew that the Dark Lord could have easily dispatched his old master by now. _So either he's just enjoying the moment, or he's afraid of something that I may do_ , Ben thought. _Either way, the fate of this duel is already sealed._

"Your powers are weak, old man," Vader growled as he swung overhand at his former instructor.

Outwardly, Ben's face did not change. However, inwardly, he smiled. _Afraid it is._

* * *

The two groups ran into one another at the exit to a passageway that opened directly into the hangar where the Millennium Falcon was still being held. "You two all right?" Yui asked Han and Chewbacca, noting that they both had their weapons drawn and were slightly out of breath.

"We made some new friends," Han grinned slightly. "You guys?"

"Same, but they couldn't make it to the party," Yui smirked. "Did yours take a raincheck, too?"

"Can we focus on getting out of here?" Luke hissed. He pointed at the ship, which was surrounded by two full squadrons of Stormtroopers. "How do we get past them without setting off the alarm?"

"Hmm…" Yui mused, her face becoming serious as she analyzed the situation. "I could bring down part of the hangar on them, but then I run the risk of damaging the Falcon in the process."

"Let's find a different-" Han suddenly stopped speaking, even as the troopers all suddenly looked in one direction and abandoned their posts. And amidst the sounds of clunking footsteps were the sounds of energy bindings crackling.

At least, that's what it sounded like to Han, Luke, and Leia. Yui better knew those sounds as that of a lightsaber duel.

Unaware of the implications of the noises, Han said, "C'mon. Now's our chance." The twins followed him immediately while Yui took a moment to follow them after unclipping her staff from her belt. She only knew of two people that would be fighting with lightsabers right now since Vaxra had been put out of commission. _Master, please be careful_ , she thought as she felt the presence of the Dark Side begin to increase.

She looked to her left to see R2 and C-3PO coming across the hangar as fast as their parts would allow. And even further back, the Stormtroopers were gathered, watching a battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and a menacing figure in black, armed with a red lightsaber. Yui's blood ran cold at the sight of the Dark Lord.

She had only ever sensed Darth Vader's presence once before, a long time ago on Mustafar, but the life energy that she was feeling was unmistakably that of her uncle's dark side. "That can't be…" she whispered aloud.

"Ben?" Luke's voice next to her startled her. She turned to see Luke staring at the fight, his wide eyes on his teacher. Yui looked back at the fight just in time to see something strange. Ben left his lightsaber locked with Vader's for just a moment as he looked over at the two of them before his old face lit up with a smile that Yui was so familiar with.

"No…" she said hoarsely, her voice dying in her throat.

Ben straightened and held his lightsaber up in a sign of surrender, serenity settled into his expression.

Vader didn't even hesitate. He slashed at his old master, cutting through his robes, even as the man himself disappeared completely.

" _NO!_ " Yui and Luke screamed, immediately drawing the attention of the troopers and Vader, the former of which opened fire on them, lasers immediately whizzing through the air.

Yui didn't even draw her lightsaber as she watched Vader kick at what was left of the kind old Jedi Master. She only felt pain and a tremendous sense of loss- more than she had ever known before.

Obi-Wan had been like the grandfather that she had never had, just as Asuna and Kirito were her mother and father, and Anakin Skywalker was her uncle. He had taught her how to make sense of her new abilities and not be frightened by what she could do, but instead embrace and use her gifts for the benefit of others.

Now he was dead, and the pain was too much to bear.

She let out a high-pitched, echoing scream even as she stretched out her right hand and tapped her connection to the Force, using all of her pain and despair as a focal point. Purple-white lightning shot forth in a storm so massive, its power could be felt by everyone on the station. The Stormtroopers were all killed instantly, and Vader barely had time to block the energy surge with his lightsaber.

* * *

Varicious was lying in the hallway where Yui had left him, nursing his wounds as best he could when he felt the surge in the Dark Side. His eyes widened as the lights around him flickered and dimmed for a moment before brightening again, and he stiffened in fear for a moment as his first thought was that Darth Vader was going on a rampage. Then he realized that the presence at the epicenter of the maelstrom was not his master's, but another person altogether.

 _Does her power simply know no limits?_ He thought in begrudging awe.

* * *

"Let's go!" Han shouted as the droids made their way up the ramp, 3PO babbling about terrifying adventures. All around them, lights went out and consoles exploded from the power of the lightning storm.

"Yui, it's too late!" Leia shouted as Luke numbly made his way back towards the ship. "We need to go before any more of them show up!"

Yui remained rooted to the spot she was at, torn by her grief and her duty to help Anakin's children. As the lightning ceased flowing from her hand, she looked through blurry eyes to see Darth Vader looking at her through his black, vengeful mask. The urge to do battle with him then and there was almost overwhelming.

" _This is not the time, child,_ " a familiar voice echoed in her mind. Her eyes widened as Obi-Wan urged her, " _Run, Yui. Run!_ " Without any further hesitation, she dashed up the ramp to the Falcon, stopping only once halfway up before turning around and stretching out her hand once again. This time, she did not seek to destroy, but to claim.

Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber flew from his robes, past a surprised Lord of the Sith, and into the waiting hand of Yui Kirigaya. Then she dashed up the ramp just as it closed behind her, and the Millennium Falcon took off, its occupants eager to escape the clutches of the Imperial Battle Station.

* * *

 **Kirito: Remind me never to piss off my daughter.**

 **Mataras: You didn't figure that out when she defeated the personification of _death itself_ in SAO?!**

 **Asuna: He's got a good point.**

 **Anakin: She beat the what now?**

 **Mataras: Story for another day. Go watch SAO.**

 **Anakin: No really, now I want to know. Was it some kind of-**

 **Mataras: Next time (next month)- Secret Plans.**


	8. Secret Plans

**A/N: Okay, I know you all want to read what happened next, so I won't bore you here- I'll just do it after that chapter is over.**

 **That is of course, unless you _don'_ _t_ want to hear about my upcoming projects...? Just leaving it out there.**

* * *

Secret Plans

Han and Chewbacca were in the cockpit, gunning the engines to make the escape from the Imperial Battle Station. Leia was standing in the doorway while the two pirates fiddled with their instruments, sweat lining her brow. _If Ben didn't disable the tractor beam, all of this will have been for nothing_ , she thought.

"We're away!" Han said with relief. Looking back, he said, "Where to, Princess?"

"Are you familiar with the Yavin system?" she asked.

"Yeah, but there's no colonies on the planet," Han frowned. "It's made up of gas, and one of it's worth mining."

"We're not going to the planet," Leia shook her head. "We're going to the fourth moon."

"That where your base is?" Han asked as the Falcon blasted further and further away from the station.

"For now," Leia nodded.

"All right, we'll get the ship ready for lightspeed," the pirate said. After a moment's thought, he added, "Might wanna check on Luke and Yui. They're taking the old man's passing pretty hard."

"I will," she said as she exited the cockpit and made her way to the lounge room. There she saw the two droids resting in the med bay trying to recover lost power while in sleep mode. Yui was curled into a little ball, crying on the floor, rocking back and forth like a small child. Luke wasn't much better, sitting at the game table with a completely blank look on his face. Leia couldn't tell which of them was in the most pain- Luke, who had lost his family and mentor, herself, who had lost her entire world, or the strange warrior come to save them.

So she sat down at the booth, suddenly feeling exhausted from everything that had happened to all of them that day, and feeling completely useless.

* * *

"They're not all gone," Yui sniffled.

Luke and Leia straightened up slowly and looked over at the young girl, who was still curled up against a wall. "What do you mean?" Leia asked.

"Not everyone… is gone," she whimpered pitifully.

"Who are you talking about?" Leia asked, beginning to wonder of the girl's mind had suddenly broken under everything she had just been through.

"You both… You still have each other," Yui said through her spasms.

"What…?" Leia asked again.

Luke finally seemed to be somewhat shaken out of his stupor, for he looked at Leia with hollow eyes as he said, "She means you and me."

"What are you saying?" Leia asked as she looked back and forth between Luke and Yui. "Are you from Alderaan, Luke?"

"No," he shook his head slowly. "Neither of us are."

"You were both born on an unnamed asteroid medical facility twenty years ago," Yui said, her back-and-forth motions finally ceasing. "One of your parents was Senator Padme Amidala, former Queen and Senator of Naboo… Your father was Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight."

"Both of…" Leia's face went whiter than a sheet.

"If what Yui has told me is true, and I have no reason to disbelieve her," Luke said, his tone still dragging form the trauma that he had just been through. "You're my twin sister, Leia."

"I'm y-" she looked back and forth between Yui and Luke again, her expression unreadable. Finally, she managed to get out, "What… What do you base that on?"

"I knew both of your parents a long time ago," Yui sniffled as she slowly wiped at her eyes. "They were like family to me… then came the Empire."

"The Empire killed our parents?" Leia asked. "Both of them?" She had known her whole life that she had been adopted, but her Alderaanian parents had never told her who her biological family was, and they had never given her any indication that she had another sibling out there amongst the stars.

"Your father was murdered by Darth Vader," Yui answered after a moment. After what had just happened to her, there was no telling what might happen if Luke, who was at a very vulnerable stage in his training, might do if he were to learn Darth Vader's true origins. "Your mother delivered the both of you into this galaxy before she lost her hold on life."

"She died in childbirth?" Leia asked.

"Yes," Yui said, her eyes still on the floor. "Your father was so happy the day he found out about you… I wish he could have seen the both of you, just once." A silence descended upon all of them, words failing to sum up the nexus of emotions swirling around the room.

"We're not out of this yet," Han said as he burst into the room, startling all of them. "We got fighters closing in on us, and unless we wanna bring the whole fleet with us to Yavin, we need to lose these guys."

"We're on the guns," Yui said as she stood up and finished wiping her eyes. "Luke and me."

"You sure, kid?" Han asked, though they had precious little time to waste.

"I'm sure," she sniffed as she finished wiping her eyes. "We have a job to do. Personal feelings can wait until we've made it a safe distance away."

"Okay, then buckle in," he said as he turned around. "We got four TIE fighters on us."

 _Four?_ Yui thought as she made her way to the first gunner position. _Only four?_ Something about that seemed wrong to her, but it would have to wait. For now, they needed to deal with the immediate problem.

 _Be mindful of the Force, though not at the expense of the present moment_ , Obi-Wan had told her, an old dictum from his own master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Thinking of her old master nearly moved her to tears again, but somehow, her tremors actually began to ease as she climbed down the ladder that led to the first gunner's seat.

Even as she settled into the chair that was designed to swivel with the gun, she heard the echo of a whisper in her mind. _The Force will always be with you… And so will I._

"Master?" she whispered, even as she put on her headset.

"Sorry kid, didn't quite catch that." Han Solo's voice nearly made her fall out of her chair in shock, which would have been impressive, considering that the seat was designed to move with her body weight. "Yui, Luke, are you settled in? Those fighters are coming in hot!"

"I'm in position," Luke's voice was still a little flat, but he sounded alert.

"Yeah, sorry," Yui added as she switched on her targeting controls. "I'm in, Captain. What're the orders?"

"Let loose and make sure none of 'em make it back to that station," Han replied. "I've got a few tricks that'll put 'em in your sights, but I'm going to have to divert power from the shields to increase the engine power while maintaining the gun's power supply."

"How many hits can we take like that?" Luke asked worriedly, even as the first of the TIE fighters came into Yui's sight.

"Two, maybe three," Han said. "So do us all a favor and blow those things to dust before that happens."

"After everything today, it'll be my pleasure," Luke said with a slight growl in his throat.

Yui winced with worry at his tone. _This is bad_ , she thought even as the Falcon swung around to bring two fighters into her line of sight. _My use of the Dark Side is affecting him, and he doesn't even know it._

"Let loose!" Han shouted, even as a small explosion rocked the ship, indicating that they had been hit. "They're already breaking through the shields!"

Yui squeezed the triggers on the turret, sending orange-red bolts of light that streaked through the void of space to narrowly miss one of the fighters. _What…_ She thought while he eyes widened. _That… I never miss!_ She let off another round of laser fire, just missing her other target.

"Good work, sweetheart, they're not coming too close now!" Han said into the com. "They won't risk getting that close-range again!"

 _But I wasn't trying to miss!_ She thought in a panic. _How is this…?_ Her hands began to tremble again, and she felt fear and despair begin to eat away at her soul.

"Yui." The voice was Luke's. "Can you hear me?"

"Y-Yeah…" she said shakily.

"I know you don't like taking lives, but it isn't optional this time. If they lock onto us before we go into hyperspace, they'll be able to pinpoint our coordinates," he said somberly. "I know this is hard, but… Remember what Ben told me? Told us?"

"What…?" she said, even as the fourth fighter swung into view.

"There is no death," he said quietly. "There is only the Force." She heard the sound of laserfire, and one of the ships on the radar exploded.

"Nice shot, kid!" Han whooped.

Yui's eyes widened in surprise again as she reached out with the Force to feel Luke's presence. Unlike a moment ago, when it had been tinged with darkness, his spirit was a calm, soothing presence, glowing like a star, one of the endless wanderers in the night- a Skywalker.

"There is no emotion," she said as the tremors began to subside again. "There is peace."

"What are you two-?" Han's words were cut off by the sound of laserfire erupting from the first gun, which blazed forth to smite the second TIE fighter. "Whoa!" Han exclaimed. "Okay, whatever you two are talking about, keep it up!"

"We're done talking," Yui said, her voice a little stronger now. "Let's finish this." She reached over and flicked a switch, disabling her targeting system.

"Uh, sweetheart, what are you-?"

"Call me that again and I'll break your jaw," Yui snapped. "I've got this."

For a moment, there was stunned radio silence, then Han said mildly, "They're coming in at two o' clock."

"I got the one on the left," Luke said as he sprayed orange light into the void, one of the shots blowing the fighter into dust.

"We got one more!" Leia shouted over the com.

"I know," Yui said calmly.

This time when the ship sped into view, Yui ignored all of the instruments around her, blinking and beeping, distracting her. In that moment, there was only her, the turret, and the enemy ship. She squeezed the trigger just long enough to let out two bolts. The first one hit the left wing, spinning it just enough so that the second blast, which was a hand's breath behind it, blasted right through the middle, essentially spearing the ship in half.

"I…" Han's voice came through somewhat shakily. "I have nothing. This girl is too good." There was a sound of movement, and Yui thought she heard footsteps walking away from the com.

She took off the headset and leaned back, suddenly exhausted. "Good work, team," she said heavily. Forcing herself to move, she climbed back up the ladder to the lounge room, where she came upon the sight of C-3PO tangled in a web of wires and circuits with R2 trying his best to use his various instruments to get his golden friend unstuck.

"This is all your fault, you know," 3PO said angrily to the astromech droid. R2 replied too quickly for Yui's tired brain to process, but it was clear that he was finding the predicament his friend was in to be rather funny.

Yui looked back at the ladder to see Luke coming down, who looked about as tired as she felt. "Hey there," he said with a slight wave. "Look, what I said… I just didn't want you to feel guilty about doing what you did back at the station."

"But I do," she said as she hugged herself. "Before today… I'd never killed a single person. Not directly, at least. I always wanted to preserve life, but in that moment…" she shuddered as she remembered the surge in the Dark Side that had killed so many. "I stopped being a Jedi like Obi-Wan."

"Hey," Luke said as he stepped forward and put his arms around Yui, causing her to stiffen with surprise. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way," he continued. "But I don't think you ever were a Jedi like Ben. And maybe that's not a bad thing."

"But he wanted you to become a traditional Jedi," Yui said as she looked down. "Now that can't happen because he's gone. I… I can't train you to be a Jedi like your father was. My parents and I were… different from other Jedi. We followed a different path- one a lot more dangerous than that of a Jedi's."

"But Ben was still your mentor," Luke replied, squeezing her shoulders a little tighter. "He taught you how to be a Jedi, no matter how you used the Force. And… I think that's what's important."

"Wow…" Yui said softly.

"What is it?" Luke asked as he took a step back and looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

"No, but…" Her gray eyes finally came up to meet his. "This may sound stupid, but… You're the first person to ever comfort me without me trying to help you through your emotions first. The very first, outside of my family."

"What're you talking about?" he asked, confused.

"See… I'm not the biological child of my parents," Yui said. "Like you, I was adopted."

"I see…" Luke said slowly. "Did you… ever get to meet your biological parents?"

"No, because I don't have any," Yui replied.

"What do you mean?" Luke was very confused now. "Everyone has to-"

"I was created on a computer," Yui said as she looked back up at him. "Not in a lab with computers, but literally _on_ a computer. I was… I came into the world a program." His eyes widened with surprise as she took a step back, completely out of his grip. "Yeah," she nodded. "I was a piece of software, specifically an AI program designed to analyze and assist the minds of any troubled people I came into contact with."

"You're… a mental healthcare AI?" he asked with a cocked head. "But I thought…"

"I was," she nodded. "In my world, I was the very first AI that was successfully generated with quadrary coding, making me sentient. But I was banned by my creator to execute my main function, and until my parents rescued me- which only happened because I reached out to them, despite the system's commands- I could do nothing but watch as people did little besides kill themselves and struggle against what seemed like an impossible task. When my father, Kirito, finally developed the technology to pull me out of the computer and translate my code into flesh and blood, the Force called us to meet your parents." She hesitated, knowing that Luke was still not ready for the full truth yet.

"What happened then?" Luke asked.

"We all trained to become Jedi alongside your father," Yui answered briefly. "But even as a true human, my tendency has always been to help others, never asking that anything be done for me first, only those around me. So… What I've been trying to say is that I appreciate you reaching out to me, both here and in the fight just now. I know you've been having a rough day too, but you didn't care, you just…" She finally smiled the tiniest bit at the blue-eyed boy. "Thank you, Luke. You really do have a lot of your father in you."

"Just my father?" he smiled back. "Not my mother?"

Before she could answer, they heard Leia shouting, "You and the walking carpet can have all the spice you want when we make it to the base! But then I never want to see you again, you hear?!"

"Won't be a problem, _princess_!" Han shouted back as she stormed down the hall to the med bay to be alone.

"Please tell me that's not what my mother was like," Luke winced.

"Only on the bad days," Yui said mildly.

"How often were there bad days?" Luke asked.

"Ow!" Leia yelped. "Who left that syringe just lying there?!"

"Hopefully not as often as your sister seems to have them…" Yui said slowly.

"You're sure-"

"I can sense both of you with the Force," Yui replied flatly.

"Okay, but just to be sure-"

"I can run a blood test when we get to the rebel base if you really want me to," Yui rolled her eyes. "Speaking of which, where is the base at?"

"Yavin Four, I think," Luke said. "I'm pretty sure I heard- Yui are you okay?" He gripped her shoulder as she paled rapidly. "Hey, you're turning whiter than Hoth, what's going on? Is it the Force? Is it telling you something?"

"Luke," she said as she gripped his shoulder with surprising strength as her wide, gray eyes locked onto him. "We _cannot_ go to the Yavin moon." Even as she spoke, they heard the sound of the lightspeed activating.

"What, why not?" Luke asked worriedly. "I think we're already on our way."

"Luke, Yavin Four is a Dark Side world," Yui said, her body beginning to tremble again. "It's where the first Sith Emperor was revitalized after the defeat of the Jedi Revan- fewer places in the galaxy are filled with the presence of the Dark Side than that moon!"

"But you used the Dark Side, didn't you?" Luke said. "Back at the station…?"

"I did, but it was a mistake," she said, beginning to almost babble. "Whenever I use the dark, I never rely on it solely, save for that one time. If not used in moderation, it will corrupt, and… and… and…" Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she sagged to the floor.

"Uh… Yui?" Luke said as he tried to shake her awake. "Yui? Yui?!" He looked up and shouted. "I need some help here! Yui's out!"

* * *

 **Kirito: Uh... Okay, can I ask a question?**

 **Mataras: I think you just did.**

 **Kirito: Okay, can I ask another one?**

 **Mataras: You just did.**

 **Kirito: Seriously man?**

 **Mataras: Going thrice...**

 **Asuna: Since Kirito isn't getting anywhere with that... Why was this chapter called Secret Plans? The plans for the Death star weren't even mentioned in this chapter. Or this story, come to think of it...**

 **Anakin: Yeah, what gives?**

 **Mataras: Okay, I called it that because I have a couple of secrets of _mine_ that I think it's time I unveil.**

 **Kirito: We're listening...**

 **Mataras: I thought so. Okay, first announcement- for those of you that haven't read my other ongoing stories, Fire Sword and Inheritance of a Dragon Slayer, you'll have missed the announcement that puts the Red Swordsman: Shattered Fragment on a release date for November 24, 2016 (a.k.a. Thanksgiving Day)! For those of you that have read either one of my previous reiterations of Sword Art Online, forget everything you know about Mataras and the revived Black Cats. Because this time around, things will be different in a multitude of ways- the story will be different, the character roster will be increased (don't worry, our lovable Black Swordsman and the Lightning Flash will still be around as main characters), and, umm... how d I put this...? ah, yes. The level of detail and skill I have invested in all of my stories up until the premiere of Shattered Fragment is going to look like child's play.**

 **Oh, and for the eyes of this crowd alone, I will be releasing a prologue chapter on November 1, 2016. If you need a countdown, that's in nineteen days. Set your alarms, people, because I am _hyped_!**

 **Asuna: Wow, he is really going to town with this one, isn't he?**

 **Kirito: Well, I think he has a bit of a right to be. Shattered Fragment doesn't get released without the approval of his fiance, who is kind of a grammar Nazi.**

 **Anakin: Wait, he got an editor for this story?**

 **Asuna: Yeah, and from what we've seen, she does not play nice when it comes to making grammatical mistakes...**

 **Anakin: That bad, huh?**

 **Mataras: I'm sorry, did I say I was done talking?**

 **All: Sorry.**

 **Mataras: Thank you. Now, as for the second announcement, I have hinted at another secret project that will premiere during New Year's, 2017, during the omake of Inheritance's latest chapter. As I stated during that segment, it will be a story in an entirely new branch of fiction completely untouched by me thus far. If you can guess under what section of fiction this is, I will grant you a rather special prize (at least, I think it's special). Northern Warrior and Naruto Sakura Uzumaki, you are not allowed to post the answer- you already know what it is! No buts!**

 **Further details, including the name and the premise of this new hidden project will be disclosed publicly on Thanksgiving Day this year.**

 **Kirito: ... Anything else?**

 **Mataras: Yep! You all are awesome, and all three of my current stories will be updated on the first of next month, and again on Thanksgiving Day to commemorate Shattered Fragment's true beginning, and because I am so very thankful to have awesome readers and reviewers like you! See ya next month!**

 **Anakin: Next time- The Dark Moon.**

 **Asuna: So is the chapter name actually relevant this time, or...?**

 **Anakin: I dunno, that's what he told me to say.**


	9. The Dark Moon

**A/N: Hello everyone! Today is a very special day indeed, because not only am I releasing a chapter for every single one of my stories, I am finally getting the Red Swordsman: Shattered Fragment up and running! So after you read this chapter, I hope that you go and check out what I've got in store for you in the world of Aincrad!**

 **Now enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you all again for Thanksgiving!**

* * *

The Dark Moon

"She just passed out?" Leia asked Luke as she scanned the medical display machines aboard the Falcon's med bay. "Are you sure it's not because of that lightning blast she used earlier?"

"It might have something to do with it, but that doesn't seem right," Luke replied with a shake of his head as he gazed at Yui's sleeping face. "She was saying something about how going to Yavin was a bad idea before she fainted."

The young woman was muttering unintelligibly in her sleep, a frown on her face and a slight sheen of sweat lined her brow. She was being monitored by a basic device that measured vital signs but not much else.

"Huh," Leia muttered. "The equipment shows no sign of trauma, mental or physical."

"Then why did she faint?" Luke mused.

"She might just be exhausted," Leia replied. "You told me that she's been through quite a bit today, and I was only with you for half of everything that's happened."

"Yeah, well, if anyone has a right to pass out around here, I'd have thought it would be you," Luke said quietly. "I mean, you lost your…" His voice trailed off.

"I know, but duty is more important than my personal feelings," Leia said in a voice that was just as quiet. "If we don't make it to the alliance's base in time, everything we've done, everything that we've lost today, will have been for nothing."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is it that R2 is carrying that's so important?" Luke asked. "3PO and him wouldn't tell me, or even Ben, why you sent them away."

"That astromech is carrying a complete technical readout of that battle station we just escaped," the princess answered. "Without him, we may never find out how to destroy that world-killer."

"That station blew up Alderaan?" Luke asked. He had guessed as much, but when Leia nodded the affirmative, it confirmed his thoughts. "So is there a weakness that we can exploit?"

"I don't know," she answered. "We barely got ahold of the plans before my vessel had to make an escape. We never had a chance to look at it any longer than to confirm that it was indeed the schematics for the Death Star."

"I'm sorry," Luke said.

"For what?" Leia asked.

"That you lost so much because of the Empire," Luke said sincerely. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to join in the fight against the Empire. I'm a good enough pilot that-"

"Luke," Leia said with a slight smile to interrupt him. "I'd be glad to have you join us."

"Just like that?" he asked with surprise.

"Just like that," she repeated with a positive inflection. "You helped rescue me from the Imperials, and if that wasn't reason enough, I'm sure a quick biological scan would put to rest any doubts people have about me having a long-lost brother."

"Oh, right," Luke said with a slight smile of his own. "That." Looking back at Yui's face, then back to his sister's, he asked, "You believe her?"

"There's not really a good reason not to," she replied. "She fought to save our lives, and from what you've told me, Kenobi seemed to trust her a great deal."

"Speaking of which, how did you know Ben?" Luke asked curiously. "I knew cos he lived relatively nearby, and he was always there whenever I got into trouble, but how did you know him?"

"He was more an associate of my father's," Leia admitted. "Truth be told, I never met him in person, but Father always told me about his heroics in the Clone Wars, and how he helped House Organa on more than one occasion."

"I guess he knew our real parents, too," Luke said, his tone becoming sad again. "It's hard to believe that he's actually gone…"

"There's nothing you could have done," Leia said comfortingly as she placed a slender hand on his shoulder. "He wanted to make sure that we got away, and he did."

"I know, but…" Luke shook his head and buried his face in his hands. Leia said nothing, knowing that no matter what she said, Luke just needed to mourn for now. So she sat there quietly, content to monitor Yui's vitals until they reached the Yavin moon, and focus on remembering the people that she would need to gather should they succeed in finding a weakness in the Death Star.

* * *

Yui awoke with a start to see the ceiling of a medical center, machines whirring and bleeping as they performed their functions. She cast her eyes about the room, searching for something or someone familiar to latch onto, but not succeeding. The only other occupant in the room was a medical droid that was approaching her bed.

"Greetings," it said in a voice that seemed to echo slightly. "I am your doctor, M6-D4. I was told to wait here until you had awoken and provide you with whatever you need."

"Where am I?" Yui asked immediately.

"You are in a medical facility at the Rebel Base located on the fourth moon of Yavin," the droid replied. "Princess Organa and several others accompanied you here before departing to attend a strategy meeting concerning the destruction the Death Star. They asked me to take you to them if you were feeling capable of doing so."

"Yes, I think that would be fine," Yui answered, her voice a little unsteady. Already, she could feel the heavy oppression of the Dark Side hanging over her like a swollen storm cloud.

"Are you certain you are functioning well enough to attend?" the droid asked mildly. "My sensors indicate that your heartrate and epinephrine levels are considerably higher than what is normal for a human."

"I know, but I'll be okay," Yui said as she swallowed nervously. "Although, some water would be appreciated…"

"Stay here while I fetch you something to drink," the droid replied as it turned around and walked towards a station lined with various gadgets and monitors. It quickly returned with a cantina filled with cool, clear water, which Yui drank eagerly. "Be careful not to drink too quickly, or you will make yourself sick."

"Right, thanks," Yui said as she forced herself to slow down. After she had finished the water, she felt a little steadier in her movements. "So how long have I been out?" she asked.

"It has been approximately ten hours since you were brought into this facility," the droid answered.

"Sheesh, I overslept," she muttered as she swung her feet off the bed and planted her bare feet on the cool metal floor. Looking down at herself, she noticed that she was wearing a hospital gown, and her lightsaber was missing. "Erm… Where are my clothes and weapon?"

"The items that were brought in with you are in the cabinet over there," the doctor answered as it gestured to a white metal closet. "Do you require assistance in getting dressed?"

"No, I'll handle that myself, and I would appreciate some privacy while I did," Yui answered quickly.

"Very well," the droid replied. "I will see to it that you are undisturbed while you change. Please alert me if you need anything else."

"I will, thank you," Yui said with a weak smile.

* * *

A few minutes later, she emerged, dressed in her white-and-black clothing and armed with her saberstaff. On her hip, opposite to her own weapon, rested her old master's lightsaber. It felt good, having the familiar weight of her own weapon back at her side.

She thanked the medical droid for its help before getting directions to the meeting place where the technicians were analyzing the data that R2 had been carrying. She made her way there as quickly as she could, though the presence of the Dark Side made it difficult for her to concentrate on where she was going. _Hopefully I grow accustomed to the feeling soon, or we can leave before it starts eating away at me,_ she thought as she entered the meeting room.

She quickly noticed that most of the people in the room were technicians working on finding a weakness to exploit in the space station, many of them wearing intense expressions as they pored through the data. Over at a holo-projector stood Luke, Leia, 3PO, and an older man with white hair and a full beard.

Yui made her way over to them, surprising the twins when she strode up to stand on the opposite side of the table and said, "What have we got?"

"Yui!" Luke said with a bright smile as he moved around the table to hug his friend, much to her surprise, and interestingly enough, her slight pleasure. "Glad to see you on your feet," he said as he pulled back to look her in the eye. "You doing okay?"

"Better than before, though I can't exactly say that I like this place," she admitted. "I guess you're not as sensitive to the Force as I am yet, so the presence of the Dark Side isn't affecting you very much."

"I haven't felt sick or anything, no," Luke said. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'll be all right," she nodded. "Right now, we have more important things to worry about. How's the analysis going?"

"So far, we only have bad news to offer," Leia grimaced, drawing the attention of the fledgling Jedi and Luke. "We found a tracking device on the Millennium Falcon. The Empire let us get away to track us here."

"You destroyed it, didn't you?" Yui frowned. Then she added, "But they would have found us based off of our lightspeed coordinates, wouldn't they?"

"We can only assume, but that is likely the case," said the old man. "Unfortunately, we have yet to find a weakness in the Death Star's technical readouts. We were, however, able to find out that the station is capable of moving through space, though it cannot go to lightspeed."

"So how long before the Death Star gets within range to destroy Yavin Four?" Yui asked, her mind already racing.

"A few days," Leia answered.

"Shouldn't we be evacuating then?" Yui wondered aloud.

"We don't have the means to transport everyone off-world fast enough," the old man answered. "As such, we have decided to make our stand here. Hopefully, our technicians will find a weakness before the Empire tracks us here."

"That's an awful risk you're taking," Yui said. "But then again, war is filled with risks."

"Our thoughts exactly," the old man agreed. "My apologies, Miss Kirigaya. I didn't introduce myself. I am General Jan Dodanna, leader of the Rebel Force's military operations here on Yavin. It's a pleasure to meet Princess Leia's rescuer."

"The feeling is mutual, General," Yui said as she bowed respectfully to the man. "How can I be of assistance to the Alliance?"

"The princess has informed me that you have been trained in the ways of the Jedi, correct?" he asked. When Yui answered that she had, he said, "Then I hope that you will assume the role that the Jedi did in the Clone Wars, commanding troops and using your gifts to lend us any insight you might have to offer."

Yui hesitated at this. "I was only a Padawan during the clone wars," she answered. "Any leadership skills I have will merely be secondhand, as I only observed my master, Obi-Wan, in the field. However, I will do my best to do as you have requested."

"That is all I can ask," the general replied. "I also understand that you are a gifted pilot?"

"I have been told that," she nodded.

"Would you be willing to lead one of our squadrons of X-Wing fighters when we attack the Death Star, then?" he asked.

"Only if Luke is in my squadron," she replied. "We've worked well together thus far, and I would appreciate a familiar face in my group."

"Done," Jan nodded. "Thank you, Miss Kirigaya."

"Just call me Yui," she said with a slight smile. Then she fell to her knees, a shriek of pain torn from her lips as she clutched at her head, pain ripping through her skull.

"Yui!" Luke shouted, putting his arms around her slender shoulders, panic on his face. "What's wrong?!"

"Something…" she groaned. "In my head…"

" _Child of the Force, you are not yet ready fulfill your destiny,_ " a voice echoed in her mind. The headache intensified, causing her to whimper in pain. " _This pain is but a fraction of what Sidious could inflict, should you fail in your mission. Go to this Temple, and there you will find answers._ " As the words penetrated her mind, the image of an ancient temple, battered and crumbling, yet still emitting an ominous feeling, branded itself onto her consciousness. " _Come quickly, do not delay. Even I cannot endure for much longer, and if my knowledge is lost, hope for the galaxy dies with me."_

Then the headache vanished as soon as it had come. Yui uncurled slowly, almost as if afraid that the pain would return, but much to her relief, there was no sudden stab of pain in her skull again.

"What was that?" Luke asked her, worry evident in his voice and face.

"Master Jedi, are you ailing with something?" the general asked.

"Not… that I know of," Yui said as she got to her feet with Luke's help. "But… I've received what I think is a warning from the Force…"

"A warning?" Jan asked sharply. "Are we in danger?"

"Not at the present moment, no," Yui shook her head. "But… There's something I need to check. I need access to a map of the entire moon, preferably one that focuses on ancient sites and monuments."

"Why is that?" Leia asked. "How are ancient relics going to help us now? We should be focusing on the Death Star."

"Leia, this could be just as important, if not more so," Yui replied. "I'll help with the crisis at hand, I promise I will. But visions and voices from the Force should never be ignored."

Leia pondered her words for a moment before she turned around and shouted, "Biggs! I need your compiled flight data of the Yavin moon, right now!"

"Thank you," Yui said heavily.

"Yui, what exactly are you going to do?" Luke asked.

"I'm going to a place that you cannot follow," she said as she looked him in the eye. "You're too vulnerable in the Force right now, and I won't risk you being corrupted by the Dark Side. You may not be feeling anything right now, but trust me, for the sake of your sanity, you can't come with me."

"Why not?" he demanded. "Where are you going that's so dangerous?"

"To the former temple of a Sith Lord that made the Emperor and Darth Vader look like nothing more than younglings playing with training sabers," Yui replied. "The Force is calling me to the Temple of the one true Sith Emperor, Lord Vitiate."

* * *

 **Asuna: _Are you crazy?!_**

 **Mataras: Absolutely, what's your point?**

 **Asuna: _You're sending her to meet VITIATE?!_**

 **Mataras: I never said that. I'm just sending her to his old temple. Besides, I wouldn't send her in if I didn't think she could handle it.**

 **Kirito: Wait, so if that wasn't Vitiate talking to her, who was it?**

 **Mataras: The answer to that will be revealed on Thanksgiving day, or in about three weeks.**

 **Kirito: Figures.**

 **Mataras: Duh, it's me. What else did you expect?**

 **Anakin: Nothing different, but one can always hope.**

 **Mataras: You'd think that you'd have a New Hope by now, though, eh?**

 **Anakin: ...Really?**

 **Mataras: You left yourself open for it.**

 **Kirito: Next time- The Dark Temple.**


	10. The Dark Temple

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, my friends! I'll be brief so you can all get on to what you came here for- reading!**

 **First, I will say that this chapter is gonna be, umm... how do I put this...? Ah, yes.  
AWESOME!**

 **Also, I have an announcement to make in the omake concerning my newest project, set to release this New Year's. Full details will be covered in the Red Swordsman: Shattered Fragment, but hopefully what I include after the chapter will get at least some of you hooked on the idea!**

 **May the Force be with you!**

* * *

The Dark Temple

Yui narrowed her eyes at the sight of the dark temple below her. Surrounding it were the endless forests of the Yavin Moon, and the crumbling remains of a Massassi village to the east. _I'll stay clear of that if at all possible_ , she thought as she piloted her borrowed ship towards the remnants of what appeared to be a landing zone.

Massassi were dark side creatures enslaved by the Sith Empire millennia ago, and although they had died out by the end of the Galactic Civil War, their homes could still house great evils within. There was no telling what had been attracted to live there in the time since their extinction.

 _Still, it's not like I'm going to the holiest of places in the galaxy, either,_ the girl thought as the ship settled down. R2 let out a string of whistles that lead her to reply, "No, R2. I'll be going in alone. Please stay and guard the ship- I don't want to come back and find a swamp lurker in the cockpit." She leaped out of the pilot's seat and checked to make sure that there was nothing waiting to eat her nearby.

The little astromech droid bleeped twice and fell silent. Yui smiled at him and said, "Thanks, R2." With that settled, she double-checked to make sure that she had her saberstaff on her before heading for the ruined entrance to the Temple, little more than a hole in a pile of rubble now.

* * *

As soon as she was inside, the presence of the Dark Side became nearly palpable. The air itself seemed determined to choke her, but Yui refused to concede defeat. She pressed on through the dark confines of Vitiate's Temple, using her Jedi-developed senses to seek out the source of the voice that had called her to the dark place.

"Hello?" she called out as she flicked on a flashlight. Nothing greeted her senses but the silent ruins of the temple. She frowned, unamused. "Answer me, or I leave and never return. …And isn't time running out for you?"

" _Clever_ ," the voice from the vision said, sounding pleased. " _I was hoping to test your patience, but it seems you recognize that sometimes deliberate pacing and wisdom do not go hand-in-hand._ "

"My master always taught me to be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of a present threat," Yui replied as the shadows around her seemed to lift a little, allowing her flashlight to illuminate further down the hallway. "And the present danger is great indeed."

" _I know,_ " the voice replied. " _Come in, Child. Nothing here will harm you. You have my word._ "

"I know better than to trust the word of a Sith, even in death," Yui said defiantly, though she pressed onward towards a glimmer of light in the ancient ruin, just beyond the exit of the tunnel.

" _What makes you say that I am Sith?_ "

"Tell me I'm wrong," she answered. "I'm familiar with two Jedi that used the Dark Side of the Force, but never in the manner or magnitude that you used to contact me."

" _A regrettable course, but a necessary one,_ " the voice replied, sounding contrite. " _With the condition I am in, using the Dark Side was the only way to make myself heard on this forsaken moon. Using the light would have been… taxing, to say the least."_

This gave Yui pause, and she stopped just before reaching the exit to the tunnel she had found herself in. "You know the Light?" she asked.

" _I know the Force,_ " came the answer. " _In death, I have moved beyond the light and the dark._ " Yui stepped out of the tunnel, compelled to understand what she was hearing.

"You moved beyond them?" she asked skeptically as she found herself in a chamber that contained a statue of whom Yui could only assume was the Eternal Sith Emperor. "I thought the Force was a balance of light and dark."

" _Yes and no_ ," the voice echoed around her as a wind began to stir inside the room. " _The Force has two sides that must be kept in balance, both the light and the dark. But I have found that the way to balance them is not by pitting them against each other, or forcing them to work together. The answer… is a third path._ "

"A third path?" Yui repeated. "Wasn't there an ancient Empire that had an army of Force-adepts that used neither the light nor the dark?"

" _They thought so, but because their leader_ was _darkness, they were not as neutral in their ways as they would have liked to believe,_ " the voice said, now sounding as though it was coming from the statue. " _Nonetheless, the idea held merit… It simply needed the right person to discover and walk upon it._ "

"And you have done this?" Yui asked skeptically. "Who are you to claim that you have mastered the truth of the Force?"

"One who has looked upon the heart of the Dark Side itself, only to return to the Light," said the voice, its owner finally taking shape in the form of a bluish apparition that stood a few feet in front of her. "One who has known what it means to be both Jedi and Sith, fully and completely." As he finished speaking, the ghost's face and body finally finished forming, revealing it to be a middle-aged man with longer dark hair and many scars on his face, framing intelligent brown eyes.

"No way…" Yui said with eyes so wide, it was a wonder they didn't pop out of her head. "Revan?"

"What's left of him," he smiled. "Welcome, Child of the Force."

"How is this possible?" she asked. "You died… A thousand years ago?!"

"When the one known in the Jedi Archives as the Outlander struck my darkened body down, the remaining light of my mind convinced me to continue our fight against the Emperor in a less direct manner," he answered. "And I never stopped fighting the Dark Side, for these long centuries… The Light is too passive, the Dark too hungry."

"You've been waiting for something," Yui realized aloud.

"Some _one_ ," Revan nodded. "I've been waiting for you, Yui."

"Why me?" she asked.

"You are like me, having known the Dark and the Light, though you have not yet mastered either," he said, "I can not only help you finish your training as what some might call a 'Dark Jedi', I can show you the path that Zakuulan Empire tried to walk, unmolested, the way it was meant to be walked."

"Again, why?" she asked. "Why would you do this for me? Why not Luke or Leia? They're the children of the Chosen One. Wouldn't they make better candidates?"

"I was not even aware of their presence until I felt them through you," the ghost shrugged. "Which means that the Force did not want me to go to them. My visions of late have shown me you, battling the Empire and bringing hope back to the galaxy… _If_ you accept my help."

"Okay, so what do you need me to do?" Yui asked. "Is there some lesson I need to master, or…?"

"My knowledge spans multiple eras," Revan shook his head. "I don't have time to teach you everything I know."

"Then…?" Yui made a shrugging motion.

"However, there is one way I can pass on all of my knowledge to you, Yui Kirigaya," Revan said gravely. "Be warned- the process will not be pleasant, but I believe it necessary."

Yui scoffed at that. "I never told you my name, so you must have read some of my thoughts," she said. "If you got anything more than my name, you'd know that I've faced some pretty unpleasant circumstances."

"I didn't read much," Revan admitted. "You have a well-disciplined mind, Yui. More so than many of the people I have ever encountered. So tell me- what have you faced that was so unpleasant?"

Yui raised an eyebrow before saying, "I was born an AI program designed to monitor and care for ten thousand prisoners trapped in a virtual world, all on my own. But my creator banned me from helping them, meaning I could only watch over the course of two years as many of them did nothing but kill themselves and turn on one another, with very few of them actually putting any effort into making it home. The only people to ever show me kindness in all that time were two players that went on to adopt me as their own child.

"That was just the beginning of my life. I grew up as a Padawan during the Clone Wars. I saw the cruelty of Darth Sidious as he and his army massacred the people I had come to call my friends and family. I watched as he killed my best friend right in front of me. And I was forced to stay where it was safe when my father was compelled to kill a man he had come to look upon as a brother, and I as an uncle.

"That has been the summary of my life, other than a few years of peace," Yui finished, realizing that she had tears running down her face. " _That_ is who you asking about unpleasant circumstances, Revan. Any more questions?"

"Just one," he replied without missing a beat. "Are you familiar with the Force-Walking ritual, last used by Darth Imperius of the Dark Council?"

"Only by name," Yui replied. "Jedi Padawans aren't exactly allowed to go looking up how to perform ancient Sith rituals."

"True," Revan nodded. "Very well, allow me to explain it- the short version, if you don't mind."

"Agreed," Yui said. "This place gives me the creeps, even without any Sith alchemic monsters running around."

"The Forcewalker uses the Force to bind the spirit that appears to them," Revan said. "The spirit can then live on through them, and the Forcewalker gains not only all of the spirit's knowledge, but a great deal of the power that they had when they were alive."

"And… you want me to…" Yui said slowly, trying to be sure that she understood.

"I cannot remain apart from the Force for much longer," Revan sighed. "But I cannot be content to rest until the final remnants of Vitiate's legacy are gone."

"I thought you had found a neutral path," Yui frowned. "Why are you intent on destroying the Dark Side?"

"Because the slate must be wiped clean for the Force to regain balance," Revan answered. "The Jedi are gone, Yui. The Sith are tipping the balance again, and so things must be reset for there to be lasting peace."

Yui thought on his words for a long, quiet moment. Then she asked, "What is the principle of this third, hidden path?"

"The Force is neither an ally nor a weapon," Revan answered. "The Force is the wielder's reward for dedicating themselves to a cause. The greater their belief, and the harder their resolve, the stronger they become."

"The Force is neither my ally nor weapon…" Yui murmured.

"The Force is a paradox," Revan said somberly. "It has a will, but it needs a guide."

"The Force _is_ …" Yui whispered.

"Do you understand?" Revan asked.

"I think… I can begin to understand," Yui replied. "It will take me some time to fully grapple with this, but… It makes sense."

"Then we can begin," Revan declared.

"What will you have me do, Master?" Yui asked him, standing up straighter than before.

"Focus on the Force, keeping in mind that it flows through all living things, and that through it, even the dead can live again," he answered, glowing brighter than before. "The darkness may destroy, but the light can restore. In this ritual, you will know what it means to surrender to the Force itself."

"Very well," Yui said as she knelt and closed her eyes, focusing her thoughts as the ancient master had instructed her. "Though there is destruction, the Force grants me peace. Through my passion, I gain focus. Through focus, I gain harmony with the Force and those around me. When I attain harmony, I know my duty. The Force shall guide me to my destiny." She opened her eyes and declared, "I am ready."

"Then let our fates be forever intertwined," Revan intoned. "I hereby bind myself to this Child of the Force, surrendering unto her my knowledge and power. Until death claims her, or she releases me, I shall remain her guardian and mentor." His ghostly form glowed with a blinding white light, forcing Yui to shut her eyes once again.

As the light enveloped her, she let out a small gasp as she felt centuries of wisdom and experience flood her being, memories of a time long past, an era long lost. Secrets of the ancient Jedi and Sith Empire alike were becoming knowledge at her disposal, and though the amount was staggering, she felt no pain. _So this is what Revan has endured_ , she thought as a single tear slid out of her eye as she remembered Bastilla Shan and the Jedi Exile, even Darth Malek.

Then the light faded, and the memories began to become less vivid, though Yui had the feeling that she could still call upon them if she chose. She got to her feet slowly and wiped her eyes before saying, "Revan? Are you there?"

" _I am with you, child,_ " his voice echoed in her mind. " _And with you I will remain, until our destinies are fulfilled_."

"Thank you, Master," she said respectfully. "With your leave, I think it's time we go back to the fight at hand."

" _A wise decision_ ," he nodded mentally. " _I sense that_ _they will soon need you._ "

* * *

"So we did it?" Luke asked Leia as they sat down for a small lunch. He had been hoping to see Han and Chewbacca join them, but apparently the smuggler was otherwise occupied with his ship at the moment.

Leia nodded, hope shining in her eyes. "We're holding a meeting after this to discuss the weakness we discovered," she said. "It's a slim chance, but now we have one. Better than sending our pilots on a suicide run, anyway."

"I agree, a slim chance is better than no chance," said a familiar voice.

"Yui!" Luke exclaimed as he got up to hug the girl, who returned the embrace with a smile. "You're okay? The temple didn't have anything bad in it?"

"Oh, I'm sure it did," she chuckled as she sat down beside him and gave Leia a small wave of her hand to greet her. "But as it turns out, someone was waiting to help me."

"There was?" Luke asked eagerly. "Who?"

"You probably won't recognize the name, but he was one of the few recorded Jedi to be consumed by the Dark Side and come completely back to the Light," Yui replied. "His name was Revan, and his spirit was waiting for me in the heart of the Sith Emperor's temple. He offered his help, so I accepted."

"Wait, Revan, as in the hero of the Old Republic?" Leia asked, her eyes wide. "I thought he was just a myth."

"He's real, believe me," Yui smiled. "He bound what was left of his life force to me, and thus granted me his power and knowledge- and he has a lot for me to learn."

"Wait a sec," Luke frowned. "If he was a Jedi, why would he be in a dark place like that?"

"That's kind of hard to explain," Yui winced. "See, Revan was like me in the way that although he dedicated his life to doing good, he still found uses for the Dark Side of the Force. It's a dangerous path that we walk, but without people like us, balance might very well be impossible."

"Is that a path that Leia and I could learn?" Luke asked curiously.

Here, Yui hesitated. "Maybe," she answered slowly after a moment. "Right now, you're too vulnerable to be exposing yourself to the darkness. If you want to be like your father, a champion of justice, I recommend you learn the ways of the Jedi from me."

"But you said it yourself that your training was never completed," Leia frowned. "How can you teach Luke? Or me, if I decide to take up the Jedi ways?"

"I kind of have a legendary Jedi Master living in my head now, remember?" Yui smirked. "I think he'd agree to lend a hand."

"Fair enough," Leia conceded.

"Speaking of the Jedi ways…" Yui said as she reached for something at her belt. "I think you should have this, Leia." She extended her hand, holding Ben's lightsaber, much to the surprise of the princess.

"Sh-Shouldn't Luke have that?" she asked.

"He already has your father's lightsaber," Yui replied. "If you so choose, someday I'll help you build your own lightsaber, but for right now, this is the only one I have to give."

"But I haven't even decided-"

"I know," Yui interrupted her with a shake of her head. "I know you'll do whatever is best to further the cause of the Rebel Alliance, and if that means you don't have time to learn the ways of the Force, so be it. But for now, keep this as a reminder that if it weren't for the last of the Jedi, we would have no chance at beating the Empire."

Leia looked at the saber, over to Luke, then at Yui, before returning to the weapon. "Okay," she said as she gingerly took the elegant sword. "I'll keep it- for now. For Kenobi."

Yui nodded approvingly as she said, "May the Force be with you."

* * *

 **Mataras: Well, I think I've left everyone with something to think about until the Christmas chapter next month.**

 **Asuna: _Some_ thing?! I'd say you left them with more than that!**

 **Anakin: Gotta say, I think a few people expected Revan, but not the Force-Walk. I get the feeling that a number of them will be pleased by that particular development.**

 **Mataras: Heh, I hope so. I wrestled with the idea for a while, but eventually I decided that if I was going to have Revan as a part of the story, it should be on a somewhat regular basis.**

 **Kirito: He's a good fighter, so I think Yui's in good hands. I'm definitely a lot less worried about her now, that's for sure.**

 **Mataras: Glad you see it that way. Now- onto announcements!**

 **Asuna: Yeah, you said something about a new project coming out on New Year's?**

 **Kirito: Is it another SAO project?**

 **Mataras: Hah, sorry but no! No, I have enough SAO on my hands with this, Fire Sword, and Shattered Fragment going on right now. No, this is going to be something new, something I've not touched on before.**

 **Anakin: Is it a recent storyline?**

 **Mataras: Yes and no. Anyone remember the Last Airbender?**

 **Kirito: Oh yeah, wasn't that your favorite cartoon as a kid?**

 **Mataras: Hehe... Yep. So coming January 1, 2017...**

 **The Legacy of Korra**


	11. Retaliation

**A/N: Here it is, the final chapter of 2016! (I can't believe that I announced thing nearly a year ago) We're setting ourselves up one of the most historical battles in cinematic universe, and I hope everyone's ready for some serious awesome!**

 **Edit: May the Force be with you, Carrie Fisher.**

* * *

Retaliation

The group that had assembled in the briefing room consisted of the best pilots in the Alliance. Some were young, some were old, but every single one of them were veterans of more than at least a dozen encounters with Imperial warships.

Everyone that is, except for Luke, who was feeling incredibly out of place. _What was I thinking, signing up to fight alongside these guys?_ He thought nervously as General Jan strode up to stand in front of a projector to give his presentation. _They've all been doing this for way longer than me. Nice going, Luke, running your mouth…_

His attention was then taken by the general, who powered on the console and indicated the images that were beginning to appear, showing the Death Star's technical readouts. "Thank you all for your patience," he began. "You all know why you're here, so I'll get right to it.

"This battle station is heavily guarded not only by its own defenses, but by its own personal armada. It contains a power greater than half the fleet." The men in the room began to murmur amongst themselves as some of the rumors they had been hearing were confirmed.

"The defenses are scaled to deal with large assaults," Jan continued, quieting the men with his strict voice. "A small, one-man fighter _should_ be able to slip past the defenses."

Here, the men's concerns became vocalized. "Pardon me, sir, but what good are snub fighters gonna be against _that_?" one man asked.

Jan, to his credit, took the question in stride and replied with an instant answer. "The Empire doesn't consider a single fighter to be any threat, or else they'd have a better defense," he said.

"In summation, although their defenses can very well handle a warship, their turbolasers are essentially too slow to lock on to any of your fighter craft," a young, female voice said, surprising everyone as its owner strode into the room.

Luke's- as well as several other men's- eyes widened at the sight of Yui as she strode into the room confidently, dressed smart in her now-clean combat outfit. Not only was her beauty breathtaking, her voice and posture were strong and commanding, leaving no doubt that she was to be paid respect when speaking or spoken to.

She ignored their surprise, saying, "The trick will be getting past the outer defenses, of course, but once we make it inside the range of their guns, defenses will be at a minimum, much less than many of you are used to dealing with."

"Apologies again, General, but who is this?" the same pilot from before asked.

"This is Jedi Knight Yui Kirigaya," Jan replied, giving the girl a head nod in respect. "She is going to be leading this assault in person. As such, you are all expected to address her as 'Commander' or 'Master Jedi."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Yui said as she bowed respectfully to the men, her grace and title further capturing their attention. All of them knew that the Jedi were supposed to be gone, but if one had come forward to help them… "I look forward to fighting the Empire alongside you."

Seeing that she was done introducing herself, the general pointed back at the console to say, "The schematics provided by Princess Leia have demonstrated a weakness in the battle station. Yui, if you wouldn't mind…?" He gestured at the screen as he stepped away.

"Of course, General," she nodded. As the screen changed to show a trench lining the station, she said, "Our two teams will have different objectives in this approach. Gold Squad will be harassing the communication towers, doing their best to confuse their signals and disrupt the chain of command in order to cripple whatever defense they throw at us by destroying their com towers. Red Squad- led by me- will be in charge of the actual destruction of the Death Star."

Pointing at the screen, she said, "We'll have to skim this trench to reach this reactor shaft in particular." The screen stopped as it showed a square hole in the trench itself. "It leads directly to the main reactor. If we can drop a precise shot down the shaft with proton torpedoes, the reaction will cause the Death Star to explode. The shaft is only two meters wide, though, so your targeting computers will be programmed to let you know when to launch your missiles. _Only_ a precise hit will destroy the reactor."

A pilot sitting next to Luke protested, saying, "Even with a targeting computer, we can't make a shot moving that fast. Two meters is too small a target- it's impossible."

"It's not impossible," Luke said, surprising everyone in the room, himself more than anyone. He almost froze, but he saw Yui smile gently with encouragement at him, and he found that his tongue still worked. "I used to hunt Wamp Rats back home on a speeder without a targeting system, and they're not even two meters."

Some of the other pilots muttered their agreements- the new kid was right, they'd all had to take hard shots before, and that was without a pre-locked target to make it easier on them.

Sensing that they were all ready to go, Yui said, "Before we head out to get fueled and ready, I have one thing to say." When everyone's attention was on her, she smiled a bit before saying, "I know that what we're about to do is difficult, but so is being a Rebel in the first place, right? An entire galaxy stands against you, it seems like."

The men began to mutter amongst themselves- what kind of pep talk was this?

But Yui continued, saying, "But it's not _you_ against the galaxy… It's _us_ against the Empire." She paused briefly to let the words sink in before adding, "Here we are, twenty or so pilots. But each of you has accomplished things that twenty- _trillion_ people would never dream of trying. The Force is with each of you, and I sense that it is strong when we stand together. I know not everyone here believes in it, but let it work through you to accomplish this." She looked around the room, feeling the men's hearts surge with hope as she spoke to them, and it made her smile even wider.

"The Force isn't just a myth," she said to reaffirm what she had just said. "And it's not just for a Jedi. It can work wonders… Make twenty men feel like an army, bring light in the darkest times, and grant victory to those that never thought they'd hear the word."

As she spoke, Luke felt a calm peace wash over him, soothing his anxiety and chasing away his worry. _I might not be a veteran like these guys, but I_ am _a pilot, just like my father was,_ he thought. _And someday, I'll be a Jedi like him, too. And the first step to my destiny… taking down the Death Star!_

"Hear hear!" he shouted impulsively, standing up with a raised fist.

"I'm with the Jedi!" another man grinned.

"Those Imps won't know what hit 'em!" laughed another.

One by one, all of the pilots began to clap and add their voices to the enthusiasm as Yui walked into their midst, graceful and charming like a goddess among men. _How did I do, Master?_ She wondered silently.

 _Those men will follow you beyond the stars if you ask them to,_ Revan chuckled lightly. _You've done very well indeed._

* * *

Not an hour later, they received the red alert- the Death Star had come into firing range, the only thing keeping it from destroying them being Yavin itself. "I don't get it, why not just blow up Yavin and then target us?" Luke asked as he and Yui headed for their ships.

"Two reasons," Yui replied as they stepped into the hangar, which forced her to raise her voice to be heard above the noise of the fleet about to launch. "First, the schematics show that it takes hours to recharge the weapon after firing it, so destroying the planet at this point would actually just buy us time."

"What's the second reason?" the young man prompted.

"The planet is a gas giant," Yui said with a small smirk. "If they blew it up, they would take half the system with them- not even their shields could hold out against a blast that strong."

"Oh," Luke said. "Lucky us, then?"

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," Yui replied, echoing her mentor's words. Stopping and turning to face her companion, she said, "The Force will move today, Luke. I'm not sure how it's all going to end, but I do know that there is no death- there is only the Force. And it has a will that brought us here."

"Are you getting the sense of some kind of disaster?" he asked worriedly.

"No," she shook her head negatively. "And even if I had, I would quote Master Yoda and say the future is forever in motion, so do not rely on visions as though they had already come to pass."

"Master Yoda?" Luke repeated, the name unfamiliar to him.

"He was the Jedi Grandmaster during the Clone Wars," Yui answered with a slight smile. "He was a wonderfully wise old teacher… and a good friend to my family."

"Master Jedi!" one of the veteran pilots called out as he jogged up to the pair. Facing Yui, he said, "We've got a number of our best ready to fly in your squadron, are you sure you don't want to swap out the greenhorn?" He made a vague gesture at Luke, who looked affronted.

Before Yui could say anything, though, another man stepped up to join them. "Sir, with all due respect, Skywalker could run with the best of us," said a young man with a thick moustache that Luke recognized instantly.

"Biggs!" Luke laughed as he and his childhood friend embraced roughly. "I told you I'd make it!"

"You left out the part where you'd be bringing a Jedi with you!" Biggs teased him. "It's good to see you!"

"Biggs, you know this man?" the other pilot asked.

"Sir, Luke was the most daring pilot I knew back in my days on Tatooine," Biggs grinned easily as he turned to face his commanding officer. "We're very lucky to have him with us."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, captain," Yui smiled at the rebel pilot. "Luke stays in my squad, and that's final. Green or not, he's a quick shot and if he's half as good as his father was, we've already won the battle."

"Your father was a military man?" the pilot asked Luke with surprise.

"No, a Jedi like Yui," he replied with pride.

"Not just any Jedi," Yui added. "He was, without question, the best pilot in the Order. If you need proof of the fact, look up holo-vids of Anakin Skywalker in action during the Clone Wars."

"When time allows, I just might do that," the pilot said as he began to walk away. "All right, Master Jedi. The fighters will be ready in T-minus ten."

"Understood," she nodded. "I'll be in place at the designated time."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Luke muttered, "Sounds like some of these guys don't think I have what it takes."

"Come outta this thing alive, and they'll be just fine with you," Biggs chuckled. "Happens to all the new guys. They did the same thing, giving me the cold shoulder until I helped take down an Imperial monitoring station near Ord Mantel."

"Thanks, Biggs," Luke said as he clapped his friend on the shoulder. "It's good to see you."

"You too, and have I got some stories to tell you when we make it back," Biggs said as he pulled away to walk towards his ship.

"Same here!" Luke said as he waved good-bye. Turning back to Yui, he said, "He was one of my oldest friends back home. He even knew Ben."

"I'm glad you got to meet up with him again," Yui smiled at her friend. "You ready to go blow up a Death Star?"

"Yeah, but…" he frowned as he looked past her. Following his gaze, she saw that he had spotted Han and Chewbacca, who were busy loading carts onto the Falcon. "They're not coming?"

Yui's face fell a bit as she shook her head negatively. "I couldn't get them to stay, no."

Luke's frown grew heavier as he walked away from Yui to confront the smugglers. She let him go, knowing that he needed to sort this out himself. Turning away, she walked over to her designated X-wing fighter, appraising the ship with a practiced eye.

 _If I had the time, I'd make some modifications to this ship, but it'll do for now,_ she thought as she finished walking around it. "Master Jedi!" one of the technicians saluted her, even as a white-and-black astromech droid rolled up behind him. "We've brought in an R4 droid to help you today. Designation is R4-D9."

"Hello, R4-D9," she said with a smile as she knelt to be eye level with the short droid. "Ready to help me take on the empire?" The droid whistled merrily, causing her to smile wider. "Good to hear," she said. "Go on and get in the ship, and I'll be right behind you."

R4 bleeped to confirm the order and began rolling over to the loading zone for astromech droids.

* * *

"So, you're just… taking off, huh?" Luke said as he watched Han and Chewbacca load a crate full of what he assumed was money or spice.

"Yeah, of course," Han shrugged. "What'd you really think I was gonna stick around or somethin'? Besides…" he sighed as he turned around and lugged another crate to hand over to his first mate. "I got some debts I gotta pay off."

"Han, look around you," Luke pleaded. "You know what's about to happen- they could use a good pilot like you!"

"Maybe, but nobility and all that ain't really my style," Han shrugged again. "Besides this isn't even noble. More like… suicide."

Luke's face went hard, stoic. "Fine," he scowled. "Look after yourself, Han. I guess it's what you're good at."

"Hey, Luke," Han said before the young Skywalker could walk away. Luke stopped and turned to look at the pirate over his shoulder, his face still hard. And yet in spite of that and himself, Han smiled a bit and said, "May the Force be with you."

Luke's face didn't change, but his eyes did soften a bit as he nodded before walking away. So it was that he wasn't there to hear Chewbacca growl at Han, who looked at his best friend incredulously. "What?" he asked. "I know what I'm doing."

* * *

Yui was talking to Leia when Luke walked up to them, his expression clouded. "Couldn't talk him out of it?" Leia asked sympathetically.

"No," he shook his head disappointedly. "I just… I really thought that he would stay."

"Something that I learned early on in my career as a Senator is that no matter who you are, you won't always be able to change people's minds," Leia said sympathetically. "He needs to follow his own path, whether that leads him back to us or not."

"Yeah…" Luke sighed.

"Hey," Yui smiled encouragingly at Luke. "Come on. You ready to make your father proud?"

"Yeah," Luke said again, though this time with a more positive inflection. "Where's my fighter?"

"Right over here, next to mine," Yui said as she indicated the X-wing that he would be piloting. "And you'll having a familiar co-pilot along for the ride."

Luke looked up to see a blue-and-white droid being lowered into his station, and a smile broke through. "Hey, buddy!" he said to R2. "You gonna be good in there?" The droid whistled a couple of times, followed by a bleeping sound. "Okay, just don't get too comfortable," he chuckled.

"Sir, are you certain that you don't want to switch to an R4 model?" the technician that was helping the little droid into place. "These older droids don't compete with the next generations."

"Not on your life," Luke shook his head in the negative. "That little droid and I have been through a lot together. Not to mention, he helped my dad fight in the clone wars."

"As you wish, sir," the technician replied as he finished getting R2 settled in.

"Well, we're launching in three minutes," Yui said as Luke turned back to them. "See you when we get back, Leia."

"I look forward to the celebration," Leia smiled. Turning to Luke, she smiled a little wider and said, "You'll do great. And I'll be in touch the whole time."

"Thanks, Leia," Luke smiled back as he gave her a one-armed hug, which she returned. "I'll make you and the alliance proud."

"I know," she nodded before pulling away. "May the Force be with you both."

"And you as well, Princess," Yui said with a slight bow. Then she was gone, and the area was filled with the sounds of engines being prepped for launch.

"Well, I guess I'll see you up there!" Luke shouted to be heard over the noise.

"Yeah!" Yui shouted back as she threw her arms around the young man, surprising him. What downright shocked him- and her to a degree- was right before she pulled away, she planted a soft kiss on his cheek before pulling back and shouting, "That was for good luck!" Then she was gone, using the Force to leap high into her cockpit, her own cheeks blazing red from her forwardness.

"Good luck," Luke repeated dumbly before he realized that he was supposed to be getting into his own cockpit. Shaking his head to try and clear the stunned feeling, he climbed up his ladder to get into the pilot's seat before strapping on his helmet.

R2 beeped a question, to which Luke replied, "No, I don't want to know what my face looks like right now!" The little droid let out a series of noises that sounded suspiciously to Luke like laughter.

"Oh, do take good care, my little friend," 3PO said as Luke began strapping himself in. "You wouldn't want my life to get boring, would you?"

R2 bleeped a response just before the golden droid was told to leave the area. The hangar began to echo with the sounds of the Alliance's attack squadron. It was the sounds of the brave men and women that were ready to attack the Death Star.

As Luke's ship began to rise off the ground, all seemed to be strangely quiet for a moment. Then the voice of his teacher, Ben Kenobi, resounded in the deepest corner of his mind, saying, " _Luke… The Force will be with you_ " _._

* * *

Back in the HQ room, Leia and General Jan stared intently at the map that would show them the progress of the battle. Around them, technicians raced to their stations, many of them already establishing contact with their designated pilots.

"Alert," the announcer said over the stations network. "The Death Star is approaching. Estimated time to firing range- fifteen minutes."

The atmosphere in the room immediately intensified. As Leia gripped the monitor with her anxiety, she thought silently, _Yui, Luke… We're counting on you_.

* * *

The Death Star loomed against the vastness of space- there was no other way to describe it. Yui could sense the awe and fear emanating from her pilots as they raced across the vacuum between them, so she decided to give them something to focus on.

"All wings, report in," she ordered. The softness and charm was gone from her voice. Now she spoke crisply and with power layered in her tones.

"Red Ten, standing by," the first X-wing pilot reported.

"Red Seven, standing by," another said.

"Red Three standing by," Biggs answered.

Reds Six, two, nine, and eleven also reported in, each one of them coming through loud and clear.

"Red Five, standing by," Luke added his voice to the count.

Yui nodded to herself as the rest of the Red squadron checked in. "Lock S-foils in attack position," she ordered as they drew even closer. Soon, they all noticed that their ships were vibrating hard enough to rattle them in their seats, so Yui spoke again to inform them, "We're passing through the magnetic field. Set up your deflector shields to double-front."

Details of the Death Star were coming into view, especially the trench that they were going for- and the arsenal of weapons all aimed at them.

"Look at the size of that thing," one of the pilots said, fear evident in his voice as they came close to firing range.

"Cut the chatter, Red Two," Yui ordered, her voice sharp. _I can't let them focus on their fear_ , she thought. "Accelerate to attack speed." As she felt the engines thrum at her command, she said in a grave tone, "This is it, boys."

Just before they came in range, a new voice came in on the radio. "Red Leader, this is Gold Leader," another pilot informed Yui.

"I copy you, Gold Leader," she replied.

"We're starting for the target shaft now," Gold Leader said.

"We're in position," Yui nodded, even though no one could see her. "I'm going to close in on the axis and draw their fire. Red squadron, let's move!"

"We're with you, Master Jedi," Biggs said.

Yui gunned her engines to maximum and swooped in so close to the Death Star's surface that one could have barely fit a hydrospanner in the space between, prompting her astromech to scream with alarm. Ignoring its cry of protest, she shot straight for one of the nearest turrets, which was aiming to gun down some of the trailing fighters.

Eyeing the rapidly closing target closely, she allowed her years of training with Obi-Wan and her newly-enhanced connection to the Force guide her, waiting until the precise moment to let loose four lasers- a single blast from each barrel on her ship. The first shot slammed into the turbolasers themselves, blowing them to smithereens, while the other three beams hit the tower on which it was based, rupturing the munitions that were stored inside and causing it to go up in flames.

"Whoo!" One of the pilots exclaimed. "That was some fine shooting, Commander!"

"I'll deal with the turrets," Yui replied. "Reds Five, Nine, and Two, you're with me. Everyone else, disrupt their communications as best you can while Gold Squad makes their run to clear the trench for us."

"Copy that, Red Leader," the pilots all replied.

" _The Force is with us for now,_ " Revan said quietly into her mind. " _I sense that it will not be so for long, though._ " Yui frowned, but she said nothing in response.

 _Focus on the present,_ she reminded herself.

Red Squadron split itself as she had ordered, and every ship opened fire.

The siege of the Death Star had begun.

* * *

 **Kirito: ...**

 **Asuna: ...**

 **Anakin: ...Why is everyone being so quiet?**

 **Mataras: Give it a second.**

 **Asuna: _Are you serious?!_**

 **Kirito: _You did not just do that!_**

 **Anakin: Whoa, why all the yelling?!**

 **Mataras: They're mad about the cliffhanger- they're essentially voicing what I imagine to be the thoughts of a good number of my readers right now.**

 **Anakin: Why do you antagonize them like that?**

 **Mataras: Because it makes them come back for more, despite their protests. Also, I kind of forgot how to turn it off...**

 **Anakin: Turn what off?**

 **Mataras: Cliffhangers. Truthfully it's very concerning.**

 **Anakin: Any ideas on how to make them stop?**

 **Mataras: Yeah. I end the segment- like so.  
Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope to see many of you when the Legacy of Korra debuts on the first day of the next year!**

 **Anakin: Next time- One With the Force.**


	12. One with the Force

**A/N: Hey guys... I have been very sick for the last few days, but I decided that just lying around would drive me crazy, so... lucky you! Here's a new chapter!**

* * *

One with the Force

"Stay low," Yui said as she gunned her engines to accelerate, zooming in on another turret and blasting it to pieces.

"Right behind you, Commander," Wedge said.

"This is Red Five, I'm going in," Luke added.

Laser fire streaked through the vacuum surrounding the Death Star, most of it green in color. These blasts were aiming to shoot down the X and Y-wing fighters that had invaded their space, but thus far no one had been hit.

 _Yui was right, we're moving too fast for them to lock onto us_ , Luke thought as he let loose with his own guns. Flames erupted as he- quite by chance- struck a battery station, causing a bigger explosion than he had been anticipating.

"Luke, pull up!" Biggs shouted as he saw the fire. When his friend's X-wing cleared the blast, he added in a slightly calmer tone, "Are you alright?"

"Got a little cooked, but I'm okay," Luke said, breathing hard from the tension of the moment.

"Good shooting, Luke," Yui encouraged him. "But focus more on the turrets, got it?"

"Yes ma'am," he nodded, even though she couldn't see him.

"Come on boys, we're just getting started," the Jedi girl said as she whipped her fighter up and around to blast yet another tower. "Let's show them what the Alliance is made of!"

"Aye aye, Commander!" Biggs replied, the smile clear in his voice. "Luke, you sure know how to pick your friends."

"I knew that when I started hanging around you," Luke grinned.

* * *

Inside the Death Star, alarms were sounding off in every sector. An Imperial lieutenant was speed-marching through one of the halls until he came to stand at attention before Darth Vader. "We count thirty rebel ships, my lord," he informed the Sith. "But they're so small that they have no trouble avoiding our turbolasers."

"Then we will destroy them ship to ship," Vader replied. "Get the crews to their fighters."

The lieutenant gave the dark lord a head bow before rushing off to carry out his instructions.

As he did, Darth Vader continued along his previous path, a certain feeling entering his mind that he rarely felt these days. Few things gave him pleasure, but the thrill of a dogfight was something that few could resist, especially with talents like his.

* * *

"Watch yourself boys," one of the red fighters said as he took note of the enemy defenses. "There's a lot of fire coming from that deflection tower."

"Luke?" Yui asked.

"I'm on it," Luke said as he broke off from Yui's four-man team.

Biggs followed him, saying, "I've got your back, Luke." He made an adjustment before adding, "Cover me, Porkins."

"I'm on it," the other pilot replied. However, after only a moment, he added, "I, uh… Have a bit of a problem."

"Then pull up!" Biggs ordered.

"No, it's all right, I can hold it," Porkins answered.

"Pull up!" Biggs repeated.

"No it- AUGH!" The radio went silent on his end, accompanied by the sight of the first casualty for the Rebel Alliance in the battle.

Luke was in disbelief- barely five minutes into the battle, and they had already lost one of their pilots.

" _Luke_ ," Ben's voice echoed in head, startling him. " _Trust your feelings_."

 _My feelings?_ He thought. Looking down at the war machine before him, he re-gripped the throttle and added, _Right now all I want is to see this thing go up in flames!_ He let loose a barrage of laser fire, setting off multiple explosions that rocked the hallways just beneath the surface of the Death Star.

He barely realized that he was getting a line from the Rebel base until he heard one of the ground coordinators saying, "Squad leaders, we're picking up a new signal- enemy fighters, coming your way."

Luke scanned his instruments, but saw nothing to confirm this new piece of intel. "My scanners are negative, I don't see anything," he said with a frown.

"They're jamming our sensors, I see them coming in," Yui cut in. "Red Four, you've got one on your tail."

"I don't see- whoa!" The pilot's exclamation of surprise came out as Yui shot past him and blew away a TIE fighter. "I didn't even see him, how'd you do that?!"

"Those that are one with the Force can feel and see what others cannot," Yui replied gravely. "Everyone, be on high alert, and don't rely on your sensors to track the enemy fighters."

"Copy that Red Leader," Biggs said, echoed by several of his wingmen.

"Biggs, you've got one on your tail!" Luke exclaimed.

"What?!" Biggs yelped. "I can't see him!"

"Barrel roll to your left, now!" Yui ordered. Biggs did so, narrowly avoiding a burst of green laser fire.

"He's closed in tight, and I can't shake him!" the man said, sounding very nervous.

"Hold on, I'll be right there," Luke assured him.

 _This is bad_ , Yui thought as she blasted another fighter. _We don't have time for dogfights- the Death Star will be in range in less than twenty minutes._

Luke rapidly closed the distance on the TIE fighter attacking his friend before taking the shot and blasting the Stormtrooper along with his ship to pieces.

"Thanks, Luke," Biggs sighed with relief.

"Don't thank me yet," Luke grimaced. "I have a feeling that we'll be seeing more of these guys real soon."

* * *

Darth Vader quickly approached the two pilots he had summoned, saying, "A small group of fighters has broken off from the main force. Come with me."

"Permission to join the battle, my lord?" Vader turned around to see Varicious standing in the hallway.

After a brief moment of consideration, the dark lord said, "You may join, but at your own peril. If you fail in this battle, I will be most displeased."

"As you will it, Lord Vader," Varicious said as slow smile crawled its way across his face. "I sense that Kirigaya is in the fray- and I look forward to wiping her from existence."

* * *

"Luke, watch yourself, you've got another one closing on you," Yui said, the worry evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I saw him," Luke grimaced. He felt a small jostle come from behind, and for a moment, he thought that he was about to be history. Then he checked his ships schematics and reported, "Okay, I got hit, but it's not bad." Addressing his astromech, he said, "R2, see what you can do about the damage- hang on back there!"

The little droid let out a series of bleeps and whistles in response as he began utilizing one his many tools to repair the damage.

"Red Six, do you see Red Five?" Yui asked.

"Negative, he went into a heavy fire zone," the pilot answered.

"I can't shake him!" Luke informed them. "Biggs, where are you?!"

"I've got you, Luke," another, calmer voice broke in on the channel- Wedge Antilles.

A second later, and the fighter chasing Luke was only a bit of scrap. "Thanks Wedge," Luke breathed.

"Nice shooting Wedge!" another pilot interjected.

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader," one of the Y-wing pilots said. "We're starting our attack run."

"I copy, Gold Leader," Yui answered. "Move into position."

As Vader, his assassin, and the two pilots shot out of the hangar, one of them thought, _Today is the end._

As the battle continued above the trenches, Yui listened in on the Gold Squad's channel, hoping that it would be soon when they got the signal to clear out- she had already lost a total of three fighters so far.

Then Gold Leader said something that caught her attention.

"Gold Leader, repeat your previous observation," she said as she swooped between two towers, causing a pursuing fighter to break off of her tail.

"The guns in the trenches have ceased firing," the man answered. "Did you cause it?"

"It wasn't us," Yui shook her head. "Which concerns me a great deal… Keep your eyes peeled for enemy fighters."

"I seem them, four marks coming in at ten," one of the Y-wing pilots said.

Yui felt the presence of the Dark Side as she stretched out her senses in the direction of the reactor shaft.

* * *

"I'll take them myself," Vader ordered as his squad began to close in on the bombers. "Cover me."

"Yes sir," one of the pilots answered.

* * *

Yui flinched as she felt one of the Y-bombers lives extinguished almost immediately after the source of the Dark Side presence closed in on the area.

"This is no good, I can't maneuver!" one of the pilots shouted into the radio.

"Stay on target," Gold Five ordered.

"We're too close!" the other man yelled.

"Stay on target," his superior repeated.

"Get out of there, both of you!" Yui ordered.

The first pilot was quick to comply, but Vader shot him down anyway.

"Red Leader, this Gold Five, I lost both of them," the pilot reported. "They came from behind-" The last sound to come in from his end was that of laser fire and an explosion.

* * *

Three minutes before the Death Star would be in range, Yui made her call. _We're taking too many losses out here, and we only have a few minutes before Yavin 4 is history._

"Listen up boys, this is Red Leader," she said quickly. "Rendezvous at mark six point one. Luke, you'll be having Reds Two and Three, the rest of you are with me."

"What's our target?" Luke asked.

"Stay above the trench as long as you can then follow after us once those TIE fighters that took out Gold Squad take the bait," Yui ordered. "If we don't make the shot, it'll be up to you and your men, got it?"

"I understand," Luke said heavily. "May the Force be with you, Yui."

"And with you, Luke," she smiled a bit. With that, she and her team dove into the trench, all of them angling their shields to be double-front in order to counter the heavy rain of laser fire. "All right boys, as soon as those guns stop, set your shields to double-back, don't compromise your engine power, though."

"How do you know that-" One of the pilots was going to object, but true to her prediction, the guns stopped. "How…?"

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me," Yui answered. "Fighters, coming in hot."

"I don't see anything!" one of the men snapped. "There's too much interference!"

"No she's right," Luke cut in. "Four of 'em, coming in point-three-five."

"I see them," another pilot affirmed.

"I'm near firing range," Yui said as she engaged her targeting computer. "Target's coming up- just hold them off for a few seconds."

* * *

"Close up the formation," Vader said, the familiar thrill of the hunt coursing through what veins he had left.

"Lord Vader, we have another squad coming in from behind, and it looks like the aim to shoot us down," Varicious reported. "Shall I dispatch them for you?"

Vader thought it over for two seconds before answering, "No… You take care of the ones in front of us. I shall deal with pilots behind."

"As you wish," the boy answered.

* * *

"Commander, three of the fighters just broke away," one of Yui's pilots reported.

"I know, but we can't worry about them right now," she said, sweat lining her brow. "I'm nearly there."

"Their guns are charging!" another man cried.

"Did you set up your shields like I told you?" Yui asked.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Then stay in formation as long as you can," Yui ordered, even though it made her uneasy to take a gamble with their lives. "We may not get another shot at this."

"We're already taking fire!" the first pilot cried.

"Then get out, I'm in range!" she said quickly, even as she let loose with her proton torpedoes. "It's away!"

They all pulled up and out of the trench, even as a large explosion rocked the area.

"Red Leader, we read that you fired, did it hit?" a home base operator asked.

"Negative," Yui said heavily as she looked back. "It just impacted on the surface."

"What?!" Luke yelped. "But you never miss!"

"I know," she replied somberly. "Which can only mean that the targeting data was improperly calibrated. Our computers won't help us."

"But-"

"Whoa!" Yui interrupted Luke as she barely managed to avoid being blasted by a modified TIE fighter. "This guy has it out for me!"

"Yui! Are you all right?!" Luke asked.

"Forget about me right now, just go for the attack run!" Yui ordered. "I'll be okay- I've fought this pilot before."

"Is it-"

"Luke, please, you have to make the run and the shot!" Yui told him. "We have about a minute before the Death Star is in range, so please!"

Luke was quiet for a brief moment before he asked, "Any advice on how to hit the target without the computer?"

"Trust in the Force," Yui grinned slightly. "You can do it, Luke."

"All right," he said slowly. "Wedge, Biggs. Let's do this."

Yui then focused on dodging her pursuer while saying, "The rest of you, break off and deal any other fighters that might try to interfere."

"We can't just leave you when you've got a fighter on your tail!" Red Seven protested.

"That's an order," Yui said sharply. "Trust me- he's not interested in any of you. He'll only attack me."

"If you say so…" the other pilot said, clearly uncomfortable with the plan. "Come on, Seven. Let's see if we can help Luke."

* * *

Varicious felt one of his eyebrows raise as the other X-wing fighters broke off their formation, but he stayed on his quarry. _I can't tell if you're brave or stupid, Kirigaya_ , he thought. _I would have saved you for last, but since you're so eager to cut to the chase…_ He waited until his targets were locked before he opened fire again.

* * *

 **Mataras: I'm seeing a surprising lack of outrage coming form you two.**

 **Asuna: We just know by now that if you're going to do a cliffhanger, you're going to do a cliffhanger.**

 **Kirito: No sense in arguing with you now.**

 **Mataras: you two are planning something, aren't you?**

 **Asuna: Maybe.**

 **Kirito: Could be.**

 **Anakin: I'd bet my podracer on it.**

 **Mataras: I can never get a break, can I? In any case, the next chapter (release date unknown) will be the last one for the Episode IV arc. See you then!**


	13. Unwavering Faith

**A/N: As you can probably guess from the title, it's time to see if Luke's faith in the Force holds out, and if Yui's faith in him- and Vaxra's spirit- is well-founded.**

 **On to the conclusion of the epic battle over the Death Star!**

* * *

Unwavering Faith

Yui diverted all of her engine power into her reverse shields and thrusters, staving off Varicious' attacks while his blasterfire whizzed all around her. They had less than a minute before the Death Star would fire, destroying the Yavin moon, and the rebels along with it.

Her R4 unit suddenly beeped a message to her, saying that the pursuing ship was hailing her. She considered it for a brief moment. It was very likely that Varicious was planning on using Sith rhetoric to upset or confuse her, or perhaps even just torment her on a personal level enough so that he could blast her to dust.

On the other hand, could it be possible that he had kept his word and meditated on their fight, and the convictions that drove her?

" _Speak to him,_ " Revan advised. " _I sense no ill will towards you coming from him._ "

"The blasters he's using beg to differ," she muttered.

" _You know that if he genuinely wanted to kill you, he would be hitting your ship more often than he has been,_ " Revan said quietly. " _Things are likely not what they seem… I sense the Force moving in him, but towards which destiny, I am not yet certain._ "

Yui hesitated for one final second before she flipped a switch that cut off her line to the ground base and said, "R4, open the channel."

* * *

"Luke, they're gaining on us," Biggs said, sounding nervous. "What's the call?"

"Yui had her boys divert their engine power from their guns to the shields," Luke answered. "I need you guys to do the same, but also divert some of the engine power to the shields, too."

"Bu that'll slow us down," Wedge argued, even as the trio of fighters began to close in.

"It'll slow them down, too," Luke answered. "We need to hold out long enough to make it that reactor shaft."

"Luke, we don't have much time," Biggs reminded him.

"I know, but we're only getting one shot anyway," his friend told him. "So let's make sure we do it right."

* * *

There was a brief crackle of static before the voice of the Sith Assassin came through. "I'm surprised you let me through," he stated.

"Someone I trust advised me to do so," Yui replied in the same even tone. "What is it? Have you considered what I spoke of?"

"I have," he answered. There was a brief pause, and Yui found herself holding her breath without knowing why. Then he said, "The focus you possess, and the drive to battle… I want that."

"Why?" she asked. "So you can better serve your master?"

"No," Varicious chuckled a bit, even as one of his blasts clipped one of her wings. "I recognize that your strength comes from your own convictions, not a devotion to an empty cause. All I have ever wanted was to be strong, Kirigaya. Vader and the Emperor have made me powerful… but not strong like you. I… admire that." The last part was said begrudgingly, but it was a sincere acknowledgement.

* * *

Luke was sweating so hard that he was drenched with it. "The Force is with me," he breathed heavily. "And I am one with the Force…" The target was approaching rapidly, he knew. His computer was off, but he could still see it in his head, coming closer and closer…

"Luke, we're running out of power!" Biggs shouted. "What's your call?!"

"My engine's been hit, I'm losing speed," Wedge informed him.

"Both of you, clear out," Luke said, his voice strangely calm despite all of the pressure he was feeling. "I don't want either of you losing your life if I can help it."

"We can't just leave you-"

"Biggs, Wedge, that's an order!" he told them. "You can't do anything more, just go!"

"Okay, but you'd better make it back alive," Biggs said.

"Sorry boss," Wedge added.

He didn't acknowledge them, putting every ounce of his focus into making it to the target in time. He increased his engine speed while having R2 drain all the power from the guns- he wasn't going to need them now, anyway. The torpedoes wouldn't take any resources from the auxiliary power since they were basically bombs that needed to be dropped.

Just as the blue-and-white astromech finished making the changes, Luke heard him scream, and his sensors indicated that the droid had stopped functioning. "I lost R2!" he reported with worry.

* * *

"Two of the fighters have broken off, Lord Vader, should we pursue?" one of the TIE pilots asked his commander.

"No, stay on the leader," he said, angling his ship slowly to take the perfect shot.

Then things went very wrong. The ship on his left was blown to pieces, breaking his concentration. "What?!" he demanded as he looked up to see a Corellian freighter coming in at high speed.

"Look out!" the other pilot said as he panicked, swerving his ship to accidently clip Vader's fighter on the left wing. He crashed into the side of the trench while the dark lord was sent spinning off into space, fuming at the bizarre reversal of fortunes.

* * *

" _Yahoo!_ " Luke heard a familiar voice shout into his headset.

"Han?!" he gasped, shocked.

"You're all clear kid, so let's blow this thing and go home!" the pirate laughed from the Falcon's pilot seat.

Rather than ask questions, Luke immediately refocused on the task at hand, reaching out with his senses to feel for the right moment to destroy the place that marked Ob-Wan Kenobi's grave.

When he felt that the reactor shaft was at _just_ the right place before him, he squeezed the triggers that would fire his photon torpedoes. He let out a huge breath of relief when there was no premature explosions on the surface- the shot was good.

* * *

"So what will you do?" she asked. "Kill me to prove that you are stronger?"

"No, not yet," he laughed darkly. "No, I'll let you go once this battle is over, disappear for a while… But you _will_ hear from me again someday. And when you do, your convictions will be set against my own, and not my master's. Only then will I be satisfied in knowing that I found the true path to power."

"There are several paths to power," Yui said, her mind somewhat reeling from his declaration. "But only the light can provide a lasting strength."

"Says a user of the dark side?" Varicious smirked. Another blast hit one of her engines, causing a bit of damage and slowing her speed a fraction.

"The dark side is strong to tear things down, not to create anything lasting," Yui replied. "Oh, and Vaxra?"

"Varicious," he corrected her.

"I suggest we move further away from the Death Star. Right now."

"…Why…?" he asked slowly.

Yui responded by whipping her ship up, over, and spiraling so that she shot past her opponent's ship. "R4, divert all power to the engines- this is gonna be close."

"What are you- Wait, what the he-" Varicious' voice was cut off as the Death Star suddenly exploded, rocking her ship and nearly frying her with the intensity of the flames that resulted from the blast.

R4 screamed with fright, but Yui knew that they would make it. Turning her radio back on to receive signals from the rebels, she said, "Well done, Luke."

"Well done?!" Han's voice surprised her. "Are you kidding?! That was a great shot kid, one in a million!"

"Good to hear from you, Captain Solo," she smiled, glad that he had returned when it mattered most.

"You too, sweetheart," he chuckled. Normally she would have decided to deck him as soon as they landed, but she felt that she could let it go, just this once- after all, he _had_ just helped them destroy the deadliest weapon in the known galaxy.

"Hey Yui?" Luke asked.

"What is it?" she asked kindly.

"The Force is with us, isn't it?" he said.

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling even brighter. "It definitely is."

" _Well done, both of you,_ " Revan echoed. Adding to his voice was that of Ben's as they said, " _Remember… The Force will be with you. Always._ "

* * *

Waiting to greet the heroes of the battle were the majority of the alliance, but at the front of the crowd was a figure dressed in white, elegant in her bearing and joy radiating from her face. Luke quickly scaled down the ladder that was set up for him, leaping down the last few rungs to embrace Leia and spin her around with a huge smile on his face.

"You did it!" she kept shouting.

For the first time in his young life, despite the losses he had suffered in recent days, Luke felt that he was where he was meant to be. And he was happy to be there, surrounded by people that he could comrades, and even more importantly, friends and family.

"Luke!" Biggs shouldered his way through the crowd to give his best friend a massive bear hug. "I thought we were toast there for a minute, but you did it!"

"I couldn't have done it without you, buddy," he grinned.

"Hey, what about me?!" Han said as he made his way forward, flanked by Chewbacca.

"Han!" Luke shouted to be heard above the noise. "I knew you'd come back!"

"Yeah, well I couldn't let you take all the credit and rewards," he said as he ruffled the younger man's hair playfully. Luke and the others let it slide, but they all knew why Han was really there- he too, had finally found a circle of friends that would have his back, no matter the circumstance.

"Sir, sir!" C-3PO exclaimed as they brought down R2 from the X-wing.

"Oh no…" Luke winced as they saw the damage. The poor little droid had taken an indirect hit from Vader's guns, but it was still enough to have blasted off a number of his parts and laying bare some of his internal components.

"Don't worry 3PO, I'll get him fixed up in no time," Yui said as she rushed over to examine the damage.

"Please, Miss Kirigaya, if any of my parts will be of use, I'll gladly donate them!" the golden droid fretted.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," she chuckled at the protocol robot.

Then Yui turned to Luke, a huge smile on her face as she looked at the triumphant Skywalker. When she was close enough to be heard, she told him, "Luke, you're very determined, a great pilot, and you come through when it really counts." Hugging him close, she added, "Just like your father."

* * *

As the Rebel Alliance prepared to celebrate, a lone ship wandered the dark reaches of space, its pilot deep in meditation. When his eyes finally opened, he muttered, "Degobah… What will I find in those dark swamps…?"

Punching in new coordinates to the navicomputer, Varicious engaged his hyperdrive and shot off into the galaxy.

* * *

Every Alliance member on Yavin 4 was in attendance in a great hall that would serve today as the place where some of their greatest heroes would be honored accordingly. At the top step of what was once an altar of some kind, stood Princess Leia in another elegant white dress. But this time, she wore a belt from which a lightsaber rested.

Behind her stood a man with a pillow that held three golden medallions, each ready to be presented to a select individual.

The great doors at the other end of the hall opened to admit four figures. The one in the rear was massive, easily nine feet tall and covered in thick brown fur. Chewbacca roared a greeting to the assembly as the group began to walk down the aisle to where Leia awaited them.

On the right strode the pirate-turned-hero, Han Solo. He wore a confident smile as he strode through the room, seemingly taken by the rewards of being a hero to the galaxy. He wore his usual outfit, a black leather vest on top of sand-colored clothing.

On the left walked Luke, who looked a little uncomfortable at the attention he was receiving, but happy to be there nonetheless. He wore a yellow alliance jacket on top of black pants and a tan shirt, his father's lightsaber at his hip.

In the middle of them and slightly ahead of their pace strode the Jedi Yui. She was wearing a refitted version of her original clothes for the occasion, though she realized that she would likely be using it more often than not. She had kept her black-and-white theme, as well as the sleeves that were separate from her tunic, but now she wore light battle armor, based on designs she had studied from the old republic era. Silver gauntlets rested on her forearms, decorated with a pattern similar to her lightsaber's, and her boots were now reinforced with carbon steel, both of which would add to her martial prowess. And of course, her saberstaff hung from her belt as she walked through the assembly with poise and confidence in equal measures.

Once they had reached the bottom of the steps, every person in the gathering turned to face forward to observe the proceedings.

Leia turned to select one of the medals before moving to stand in front of Han. As he bowed his head to her, she announced in a voice that echoed through the hall, "For showing unprecedented courage in the hour of our greatest need, I name you a friend and ally of the Alliance. Captain Solo, should you choose to stay with us, you will be given the rank of a commander in our military."

As she placed the medallion on his head and he straightened, he grinned cockily and said, "That sounds like a pretty good offer, Princess. Think I'll take you up on it." He threw in a wink for good measure, which she chose to ignore.

Taking another medal, she moved onto Luke as he bowed, saying, "For following through on a task that many would have run away from, from rescuing me from the Death Star to saving the lives of all of those here, I thank you, Luke Skywalker." After she had put the medal around his neck and he had straightened, she announced, "Luke has already been approached with the offer of becoming a commander in our forces, which he had chosen to accept."

This got the crowd to roar with approval. Han may have played a vital role in the Death Star's destruction, but Luke had already been well-received by the Alliance in his time spent with them, especially since he had so readily devoted himself to their cause whereas the pirate had almost bailed on them.

"And last, but by no means the least of these brave fighters is the Jedi Knight Yui Kirigaya," Leia said. The crowd went wild with delight, especially the survivors of the recent battle with the Empire- it was clear that her orders and influence during the Death Star Battle had quickly become well-respected by the people in the military. Her calls had saved several of the pilot's lives, and though the mission had been a close call, they _did_ succeed.

Leia had to hide a smile as the girl bowed and allowed a medal to be placed around her neck before straightening with a wry smile of her own. She had been against receiving any kind of reward, but eventually Leia convinced her that the pilots would riot if she wasn't properly recognized.

"For guiding our forces to a victory that many thought impossible, and showing us that the Force is still with us, Jedi Knight Kirigaya has been granted the rank of General," Leia revealed, sending a ripple of surprise through the crowd. "Her tactics and knowledge of the Empire's forces are unrivalled, and the military leaders are unanimous in their decision. From this day forward, General Kirigaya will be among the leaders that plan our battles and decide where we make our strongholds."

Done speaking, Leia stepped back while the heroes turned to face the adulation of the people that they had saved. Yui had smile as she heard R2-D2 whistling merrily next to C-3PO, looking as though he had never been through a battle in all of his years. Repairing him had been hard, but worth every second, she thought. After all of the times he had saved Anakin's like, she couldn't let him stop now that Luke was in the picture.

As the applause grew louder, Yui, Luke, and Leia all raised their sabers, ignited them, and said, "May the Force be with us!"

* * *

 **Mataras: Woop woop, and that's the last of Episode IV! And before anyone asks, no, I will not be making the next episode a separate story- Star Sword II is meant to cover the _entire_ original trilogy.**

 **Anakin: So what's next? Some filler arcs, or straight on to the Empire Strikes Back?**

 **Mataras: Straight on.**

 **Kirito: Any particular reason?**

 **Mataras: I'll make references to some things that happen in between, but as far as this story is concerned, nothing significant enough to warrant a chapter is going to happen.**

 **Asuna: What about between episodes V and VI?**

 **Mataras: Probably.**

 **Anakin: Probably what?**

 **Mataras: Yes.**

 **All: We hate you.**

 **Mataras: Love you too, guys.**


	14. Author's Note

Forgive Me

Dear Readers,

I realize that the timing of this news could not be any worse. I truly wish that I had a second letter prepared for tomorrow, so that we could all laugh when I called out 'April Fools' to each of you. Unfortunately, I am the only fool here, it seems.

I have drawn up this letter to notify you all that the following stories are no longer being continued by me- Star Sword II: Return to the Stars and Inheritance of a Dragon Slayer. Legacy of Korra is still on hiatus, and The Red Swordsman: Shattered Fragment is still ongoing, though the updates will be slow.

I'm sure by now you've asked why this has come about, and why have I only said anything after being silent for so long? You deserve answers, my personal privacy be damned.

First and foremost, my wife and I are expecting our first child in little more than a month, an event which will occupy the rest of our lives, and it is an endeavor I take very seriously. This will consume more of my time and effort than anything else ever has or ever will, yet I will not resent it- I will embrace it.

The second reason is my health had fallen in various ways over the last few years, especially so in this year so far. Not only does my diabetes continue to be a problem, other issues have begun to spring from it, namely neurological damage to my right arm. The limb shakes incessantly and often causes me pain. My heart is also experiencing a problem that cause me short- yet very intense- bouts of agony. In summation, I am in my twenties, and my body is already falling apart… Bugger.

The third and final reason is all entirely on me. It's quite simple, really- I burned myself out. I tried to write about too many things at once, each of them- I'd like to think, anyway- were good ones, but I let my ideas run away too fast for me to control. I tried very hard to keep going on them all, but it became beyond me. This will not happen again.

All of this is leading to say that I am so very sorry. As an entertainer I have failed myself, and more importantly, all of you. I hope that my apologies make up at least partially for my absences in these preceding months.

The messages and reviews I've received for these stories have been incredibly encouraging to me, and I appreciate them greatly. Thank you all for sticking with my stories, in spite of my erratic upload schedule.

The only thing I can do now is offer a bit of good news. I have a new project, set to be released tomorrow (that is, Easter 2018) that my wife has been helping me out with. Featuring a brand-new original character of my design, this story is set to be much more lighthearted and fun than my usual works. It's a crossover of Dragon Ball Z and Fairy Tail, set to begin immediately post-Tenrou, and it will be titled A Saiyan's Tail. It's the first story I've begun since we were married, and I think it will be a delight for all who read it. I know it has been to write it.

Thank you again for hearing me out. If any of you have an interest in continuing where my stories have left off, please let me know. I would love the chance to see these characters finish their journeys, even if it's not by my hand.

Best Regards,

Mataras


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